Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Stock Price

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $180.00 to $165.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on LEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays cut Lennar from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $210.00 to $181.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Lennar from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Lennar from $183.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.88.

Lennar Price Performance

Lennar stock opened at $151.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $171.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.97. Lennar has a 12 month low of $140.65 and a 12 month high of $193.80. The company has a market capitalization of $41.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 4.90, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.28. Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Lennar will post 14.11 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.25%.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $3,064,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEN. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Lennar by 23,048.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 150,462 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,209,000 after acquiring an additional 149,812 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 89,896 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 101.2% during the third 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 last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Lennar by 8.7% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 101,463 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $19,022,000 after buying an additional 8,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soditic Asset Management LLP raised its position in Lennar by 143.1% in the 3rd quarter. Soditic Asset Management LLP now owns 29,290 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,491,000 after buying an additional 17,240 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lennar

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.