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Here's How Much You'd Have If You Invested $1000 in Lennar a Decade Ago

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For most investors, how much a stock's price changes over time is important. Not only can it impact your investment portfolio, but it can also help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

Another factor that can influence investors is FOMO, or the fear of missing out, especially with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Lennar (LEN - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to LEN for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Lennar's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Lennar's main business drivers.

Founded in 1954 and based in Miami, FL, Lennar Corporation is engaged in homebuilding and financial services in the United States. The company’s reportable segments consist of Homebuilding, Lennar Financial Services, Rialto and Lennar Multifamily.

Despite the varied product portfolio, homebuilding remains Lennar’s core business. Homebuilding operations (accounting for 93.3% of fiscal 2020 total revenues) include the sale and construction of single-family attached and detached homes as well as the purchase, development and sale of residential land directly and through unconsolidated entities. In February 2018, Lennar completed its previously announced merger with CalAtlantic, creating the nation’s largest homebuilder based on revenues. The merger makes CalAtlantic a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lennar.

Lennar’s reportable homebuilding segments consist of Homebuilding East, which covers Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia; Homebuilding Central covers Arizona, Colorado and Texas; Homebuilding West covers California and Nevada; Homebuilding Other covers Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah and Washington. However, Homebuilding Other is not considered a reportable segment.

The Financial Services business (3.9%) includes mortgage financing, title insurance and closing services to the company’s homebuyers as well as others through Lennar’s financial services subsidiaries — Universal American Mortgage Company and Eagle Home Mortgage.

Lennar Multi-Family (2.6%), created in fourth-quarter 2013, is involved in the development, construction and property management of multi-family rental apartments in premium markets of California through unconsolidated entities.

Lennar & Other (0.2%): This segment includes operations primarily from the company's share of carried interests in the Rialto fund investments, retained after the sale of Rialto's asset and investment management platform, along with equity in earnings/loss from the Rialto fund investments and strategic technology investments, including other income (expense).

Bottom Line

Putting together a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of research, patience, and a little bit of risk. For Lennar, if you bought shares a decade ago, you're likely feeling really good about your investment today.

A $1000 investment made in April 2011 would be worth $5,723.80, or a gain of 472.38%, as of April 13, 2021, according to our calculations. This return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

In comparison, the S&P 500 gained 214.12% and the price of gold went up 14.60% over the same time frame.

Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for LEN.

Lennar kick started fiscal 2021 on a strong note. Its fiscal first-quarter earnings & revenues beat analysts’ expectations by 23.6% and 4.9%, respectively. Earnings jumped 60.6% year over year, given higher demand for new homes backed by declining mortgage rates and low inventory levels. Notably, this marked the eighth consecutive quarter of an earnings beat. Gross margin was up 450 basis points (bps), given effective cost control and focus on making its homebuilding platform more efficient, which in turn resulted in higher operating leverage. Also, Lennar lifted 2020 forecast for average selling price, gross margin and homebuilding SG&A. Focus on the lighter land strategy to boost free cash flow is encouraging. Lennar’s shares have outperformed the industry so far this year. However, rising land and labor costs remain headwinds.

The stock has jumped 20.03% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 5 higher, for fiscal 2021; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.


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