UBS Group Cuts Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Price Target to $205.00

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its price target lowered by UBS Group from $225.00 to $205.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on LEN. Zelman & Associates raised Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Lennar from $210.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their price objective on Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.94.

Lennar Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Lennar stock opened at $138.08 on Friday. Lennar has a 12-month low of $135.21 and a 12-month high of $193.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.45 billion, a PE ratio of 9.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $168.98 and its 200-day moving average is $169.51.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.95%.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

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

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. D1 Capital Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 428.9% in the 2nd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 2,420,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $362,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,447 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth about $115,229,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 15.1% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,021,856 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $452,886,000 after buying an additional 396,951 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Lennar by 258.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 494,848 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $92,774,000 after purchasing an additional 356,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 20.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,015,641 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $302,084,000 after buying an additional 348,553 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lennar Company Profile

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.