It's a story we have been following here at Wealthy Retirement for well over a year. The United States is facing a massive housing shortage. When I last wrote to you, I showed you a recent study that pegs the shortage at more than 5.5 million homes. Given that in recent years roughly 1.3 million new homes have been built annually, it is going to take a long time to dig out from under that 5.5 million home hole. Unquestionably, this is a multiyear bullish tailwind for homebuilders. After I pounded the table on homebuilders last spring, the sector had a furious rally - almost tripling the performance of the S&P 500. But in recent weeks, these stocks have pulled back a bit. This is good news. It provides a chance to get into a multiyear growth opportunity for homebuilders at a better entry price. Today, I'm zeroing in on one homebuilder. This Homebuilder Stock Ticks a Lot of Boxes Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN-B) is the homebuilding stock that I think is set to outperform over the next three years. In 2021, Lennar ranks as the second-largest homebuilder in the United States in terms of revenue. I have four big reasons I believe Lennar's shares are going to do very well. 1. Cheap Valuation The current consensus earnings estimates for Lennar in 2021 project that the company will earn $12.84 per share. With Lennar shares trading for $99, that means the company is currently valued at just 7.6 times current year earnings. Against an S&P 500 that trades for more than 20 times earnings, that looks cheap. When you factor in the growth tailwind that the homebuilding sector has behind it, 7.6 times earnings looks really cheap. 2. Excellent Balance Sheet Following the housing bubble imploding in 2008, most of the companies in the homebuilding industry have spent the past decade focused on improving their financial positions. Lennar is no exception, with the company's debt-to-equity ratio dropping dramatically over this time. That means the company is heading into a boom period for homebuilders with a balance sheet that is already rock-solid. Often, companies use cash generated in up cycles to repair their balance sheets. Lennar doesn't need to do that, and that means the excess cash that is generated over the next several years can be returned to shareholders through increased dividends and share repurchases. |
No comments:
Post a Comment