Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Earns “Neutral” Rating from Wedbush

Wedbush reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $158.00 target price on the construction company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on LEN. Wolfe Research lowered Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $141.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.53.

Lennar Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Lennar stock opened at $120.55 on Monday. Lennar has a 52-week low of $115.61 and a 52-week high of $187.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $126.66 and a 200 day moving average of $154.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 4.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $32.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lennar will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 101.2% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after buying an additional 4,363 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Lennar by 6.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 35,744 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 182,646 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $34,242,000 after purchasing an additional 9,990 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Lennar during the 3rd quarter worth $4,797,000. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lennar by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,666,905 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $499,991,000 after buying an additional 89,896 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

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.