Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Price Target Cut to $82.00 by Analysts at Evercore

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its price target lowered by Evercore from $89.00 to $82.00 in a report released on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an underperform rating on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on LEN. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $122.00 to $107.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lennar in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $115.00 to $80.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target (down from $125.00) on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $98.07.

Lennar Stock Up 0.4%

LEN stock opened at $90.18 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $22.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Lennar has a 12 month low of $83.03 and a 12 month high of $144.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $102.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.16.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its position in Lennar by 86.7% in the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,523,594 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $279,135,000 after buying an additional 1,172,068 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. boosted its position 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 valued at $201,835,000 after buying an additional 934,856 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $95,941,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in Lennar by 14.6% in 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 buying an additional 603,004 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Lennar by 1,303.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 490,105 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,383,000 after buying an additional 455,174 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Company Profile

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.