Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Rating Increased to Sector Perform at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) from an underperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $130.00 price target on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on LEN. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wolfe Research lowered Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Lennar from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Lennar from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lennar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.50.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEN opened at $129.58 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.80. Lennar has a fifty-two week low of $129.36 and a fifty-two week high of $193.80. The company has a market cap of $35.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.66.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 11.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 14.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,654.57. This represents a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Lennar by 2.2% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,075 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in Lennar by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its stake in Lennar by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 15,074 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 1.0% in the third quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,667 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Lennar by 5.4% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,510 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. 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.