Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Price Target to $97.00

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $105.00 to $97.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the construction company’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target suggests a potential upside of 12.21% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Lennar from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lennar from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Lennar to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $101.14.

Lennar Price Performance

LEN traded down $0.39 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $86.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,034,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,140,616. The business has a 50-day moving average of $106.87 and a 200-day moving average of $115.74. Lennar has a one year low of $84.38 and a one year high of $144.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 4.77. The stock has a market cap of $21.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The construction company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 7.80% and a net margin of 5.39%.Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its holdings in Lennar by 86.7% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,523,594 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $279,135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,068 shares in the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its holdings in Lennar by 90.9% in the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 1,963,373 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $201,835,000 after purchasing an additional 934,856 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter worth about $95,941,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,732,654 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $596,504,000 after purchasing an additional 603,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 1,303.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 490,105 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,383,000 after purchasing an additional 455,174 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) is a U.S.-based homebuilder and real estate company that designs, constructs and sells residential housing. The company offers a range of product types including single-family detached homes, townhomes and condominiums, serving buyers from entry-level and first-time purchasers to move-up, active-adult and luxury segments. Lennar also develops master-planned communities and manages land acquisition and entitlement activities that support its homebuilding operations.

In addition to home construction and sales, Lennar provides a suite of ancillary services intended to streamline the purchase process and capture additional value.