Royal Bank of Canada Upgrades Lennar (NYSE:LEN) to Sector Perform

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) was upgraded by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $130.00 price target on the construction company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 2.64% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on LEN. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Lennar from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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, Bank of America raised their price target on Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.50.

Lennar Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:LEN opened at $133.52 on Friday. Lennar has a fifty-two week low of $130.91 and a fifty-two week high of $193.80. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.69. The company has a market cap of $36.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.84, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.66.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.15 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. Lennar’s revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lennar will post 14.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at $4,148,654.57. This represents a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 2.2% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,075 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in Lennar by 2.5% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in Lennar by 0.5% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 15,074 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 77 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.