Head to Head Comparison: Lennar (NYSE:LEN) and Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR)

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) and Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

81.1% of Lennar shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.8% of Whirlpool shares are held by institutional investors. 10.1% of Lennar shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Whirlpool shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Lennar and Whirlpool, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lennar	11	7	1	0	1.47
Whirlpool	4	9	0	0	1.69

Lennar presently has a consensus target price of $79.00, suggesting a potential downside of 7.12%. Whirlpool has a consensus target price of $36.44, suggesting a potential upside of 29.66%. Given Whirlpool’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Whirlpool is more favorable than Lennar.

Risk & Volatility

Lennar has a beta of 1.36, suggesting that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Whirlpool has a beta of 1.21, suggesting that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lennar and Whirlpool”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lennar	$34.19 billion	0.59	$2.08 billion	$5.29	16.08
Whirlpool	$15.52 billion	0.12	$318.00 million	$2.92	9.63

Lennar has higher revenue and earnings than Whirlpool. Whirlpool is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lennar, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Lennar and Whirlpool’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lennar	4.09%	6.15%	4.00%
Whirlpool	1.17%	4.18%	0.82%

Summary

Lennar beats Whirlpool on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a homebuilder primarily under the Lennar brand in the United States. It operates through Homebuilding East, Homebuilding Central, Homebuilding Texas, Homebuilding West, Financial Services, Multifamily, and Lennar Other segments. The company’s homebuilding operations include the construction and sale of single-family attached and detached homes, as well as the purchase, development, and sale of residential land; and development, construction, and management of multifamily rental properties. It also offers residential mortgage financing, title, insurance, and closing services for home buyers and others, as well as originates and sells securitization commercial mortgage loans. In addition, the company is involved in the fund investment activity. It primarily serves first-time, move-up, active adult, and luxury homebuyers. Lennar Corporation was founded in 1954 and is based in Miami, Florida.

About Whirlpool

Whirlpool Corporation manufactures and markets home appliances and related products and services in the North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The company's principal products include refrigerators, freezers, ice makers, and refrigerator water filters; laundry appliances, and commercial laundry products and related laundry accessories; cooking and other small domestic appliances; and dishwasher appliances and related accessories, as well as mixers. It markets and distributes its products primarily under the Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, JennAir, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, Hotpoint, Indesit, InSinkErator, Yummly, Affresh, Gladiator, Swash, everydrop, Ignis, Privileg, Eslabon de Lujo, and Acros brands. The company sells its products to retailers, distributors, dealers, builders, and other manufacturers, as well as directly to consumers. Whirlpool Corporation was founded in 1911 and is headquartered in Benton Harbor, Michigan.