UBS Group Cuts Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Price Target to $164.00

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its target price lowered by UBS Group from $183.00 to $164.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Lennar from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research cut Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on Lennar from $121.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. BTIG Research lowered shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.73.

Lennar Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Lennar stock opened at $117.52 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.70. Lennar has a 12-month low of $111.26 and a 12-month high of $187.61. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.44. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s payout ratio is currently 14.57%.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Lennar by 147.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 69,226 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,978,000 after buying an additional 41,264 shares in the last quarter. Polianta Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $900,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Lennar by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $308,696,000 after acquiring an additional 397,492 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lennar by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 30,278 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,677,000 after acquiring an additional 3,674 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in Lennar by 71.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 14,327 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,686,000 after purchasing an additional 5,981 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.