Royal Bank of Canada Upgrades Lennar (NYSE:LEN) to “Sector Perform”

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) from an underperform rating to a sector perform rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $130.00 target price on the construction company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $210.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.50.

Lennar Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of LEN opened at $129.58 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $156.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.54. The stock has a market cap of $35.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Lennar has a 52-week low of $129.36 and a 52-week high of $193.80.

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

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In related news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $3,064,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 42.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Lennar in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of Lennar by 933.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 155 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 4,225.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 173 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 523.3% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 187 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 157 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.