Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Rating Lowered to “Equal Weight” at Barclays

Barclays cut shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Barclays currently has $181.00 price target on the construction company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $210.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $183.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Lennar from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Lennar from $164.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Lennar from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.76.

Lennar Price Performance

NYSE LEN opened at $154.39 on Wednesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $41.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.61. Lennar has a 12-month low of $140.65 and a 12-month high of $193.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $172.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.85.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $9.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.14 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lennar will post 14.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.25%.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In other news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 42.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 9.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 16,125 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,417,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 0.8% during the second quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,385 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,407,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lennar by 15.9% in the second quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 610,549 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $91,503,000 after purchasing an additional 83,896 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 155.3% during the second quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 7,849 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 4,775 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lennar by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,504 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.