/Lennar%20Corp_%20%20phone%20by-%20madamF%20via%20Shutterstock.jpg)
Miami, Florida-based Lennar Corporation (LEN) constructs and sells single-family attached and detached homes and buys and sells residential land. Valued at $48.93 billion by market cap, the company also provides mortgage financing, title insurance, commercial real estate, investment management, and other financial services. The leading homebuilder is expected to announce its fiscal third-quarter earnings for 2024 on Thursday, Sep. 12.
Ahead of the event, analysts expect LEN to report a profit of $3.62 per share on a diluted basis, down 7.4% from $3.91 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company has consistently surpassed Wall Street’s EPS estimates in its last four quarterly reports. During the previous quarter, the company repurchased 3.80 million shares of its common stock for $603 million at an average share price of $158.64.
For the full year, analysts expect LEN to report EPS of $14.16, down marginally from $14.25 in fiscal 2023.
LEN stock has outperformed the S&P 500’s ($SPX) 19.6% gains over the past 52 weeks, with shares up 40.2% during this period. Similarly, it outshined the Consumer Disc ETF Vanguard’s (VCR) 9.7% gains over the same time frame.
On Jul. 22, LEN shares fell over 1% in pre-market trading after The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy.
On Jun. 18, LEN shares closed down more than 4% after it forecasted Q3 new orders between 20,500 and 21,000, below the consensus estimate of 21,095. During Q2, its adjusted EPS of $3.38 beat Wall Street expectations of $3.20. The company’s revenue was $8.77 billion, beating Wall Street forecasts of $8.57 billion.
Moreover, new orders increased 19% year over year to 21,293 homes, and deliveries increased 15% year over year to 19,690 homes. The company remains focused on delivering 80,000 homes for the full year, with a consistent margin year over year. For Q3, LEN expects its average sales price to be between $420K and $425K. Moreover, it expects its financial services operating earnings to be between $135 million and $140 million. LEN shares have been on an uptrend since the day its results were released.
Analysts’ consensus opinion on LEN stock is bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” rating overall. Out of 18 analysts covering the stock, nine advise a “Strong Buy” rating, one suggests a “Moderate Buy” rating, seven give a “Hold” rating, and one recommends a “Strong Sell.” The average analyst price target for LEN is $172.33, indicating a potential downside of 3.3% from the current levels.
On the date of publication, Neha Panjwani did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
