Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Price Target to $128.00

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its target price reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $141.00 to $128.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the construction company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. BTIG Research downgraded Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Lennar from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Lennar from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Lennar from $121.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.07.

Lennar Price Performance

LEN stock opened at $117.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 4.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Lennar has a 52-week low of $111.26 and a 52-week high of $187.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.27.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.44. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The company had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Lennar will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lennar during the fourth quarter valued at $218,533,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth about $115,229,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Lennar by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $446,110,000 after purchasing an additional 589,553 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Lennar by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,239,488 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $441,769,000 after purchasing an additional 515,378 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Lennar by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $308,696,000 after purchasing an additional 397,492 shares during 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.