Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Price Target Cut to $170.00 by Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its target price reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $210.00 to $170.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Lennar from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price target on Lennar from $181.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Lennar from $164.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.94.

Lennar Price Performance

NYSE LEN opened at $138.08 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $168.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.61. Lennar has a 1-year low of $135.21 and a 1-year high of $193.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.90 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.15 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 11.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Lennar will post 14.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s payout ratio is 13.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $3,064,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. This trade represents a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 9.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in Lennar during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,543,000. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in Lennar by 1.3% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 47,348 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,877,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Lennar during the third quarter worth $241,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lennar in the third quarter valued at about $251,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 9.4% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 43,049 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,071,000 after buying an additional 3,712 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

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.