Top Electric Utility Stocks To Watch For 2016

Top Electric Utility Stocks To Watch For 2016: Lennar Corp.(LEN)

The third largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue reported exceptional Q3 results, as its earnings more than quadrupled, primarily as a result of an increase in new-home demand. The reported net income of 40c was well ahead of last year's 11c, and the forecasted 28c.

According to the company's CEO, Stuart Miller, "The homebuilding business is beginning to revert to normal, and that's a positive for the U.S. economy in general, which is in turn good for sustained recovery in the housing market. Overall demand has been improving and we've seen a consistent sales pa! ce at improving prices."

LEN's contract backlog, which is an indicator of future sales, rose by a whopping 79% on a YoY basis. Its average selling price of delivered homes also increased to $258,000 from last year's $247,000.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  The Q4 2014 earnings report for small cap homebuilder stock KB Home (NYSE: KBH), a peer of mid caps D.R. Horton, Inc (NYSE: DHI), Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) and PulteGroup, Inc (NYSE: PHM), is scheduled for before the market opens on Tuesday (January 13th). Aside from the KB Home earnings report, it should be said that D.R. Horton, Inc will report Q1 2015 earnings on January 26th, Lennar Corporation will report Q4 2014 earnings next Thursday morning (January 15th) and the PulteGroup, Inc will report Q4 2014 earnings on January 29th. However, the technical charts for all four homebuilder stocks are showing uptrends since hitting October bottoms.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

   

  Another potential earnings short-squeeze play is homebuilding player Lennar (LEN), which is set to release its numbers on Wednesday before the market open. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect Lennar to report revenue $1.96 billion on earnings of 67 cents per share.

   

  The current short interest as a percentage of the float for Lennar is very high at 14.3%. That means that out of t! he 178.16! million shares in the tradable float, 25.50 million shares are sold short by the bears. If this company can produce the results the bulls are looking for, then shares of LEN could easily explode sharply higher post-earnings as the bears rush to cover some of their trades.

   

  From a technical perspective, LEN is currently trending above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bullish. This stock has been uptrending for the last month and change, with shares moving higher from its low of $35.74 to its recent high of $39.68 a share. During that uptrend, shares of LEN have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of LEN within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade post-earnings.

   

  If you're in the bull camp on LEN, then I would wait until after its report and look for long-biased trades if this stock manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $39.68 to $41 a share with high volume. Look for volume on that move that hits near or above its three-month average volume of 2.82 million shares. If that breakout kicks off post-earnings, then LEN will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $42.63 to its 52-week high at $44.40 a share. Any high-volume move above those levels will then give LEN a chance to tag or trend north of $50 a share.

   

  I would simply avoid LEN or look for short-biased trades if after earnings it fai

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Wednesday

  Earnings Expected: Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBRL), FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX), Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN), United Natural Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: UNFI) Economic Releases Expected: British unemployment rate, Eurozone CPI, U.S. CPI, U.S. current account, Japanese trade balance

  Thursday

• [By maarnio]

  Beazer Homes' competitors include KB Home (KBH),! Lennar (! LEN), and PulteGroup (PHM). Here is a table comparing these companies.

  Company

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-electric-utility-stocks-to-watch-for-2016.html