Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Price Target Raised to $164.00 at Evercore ISI

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its price objective boosted by Evercore ISI from $161.00 to $164.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, FlyOnTheWall reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Lennar from $113.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Lennar from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $115.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday, June 16th. Finally, Wedbush restated a neutral rating and issued a $123.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research note on Monday, September 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $130.94.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN opened at $117.03 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 7.09. The company has a market capitalization of $33.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.48. Lennar has a 1 year low of $69.90 and a 1 year high of $133.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.64.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, September 15th. The construction company reported $3.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $8.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.49 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.66% and a return on equity of 16.41%. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lennar will post 12.65 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 7th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 6th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.12%.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In related news, Director Amy Banse acquired 790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $126.42 per share, for a total transaction of $99,871.80. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,981.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.48, for a total transaction of $1,264,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,882,501.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy Banse bought 790 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $126.42 per share, for a total transaction of $99,871.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,981.06. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 2,634 shares of company stock worth $321,855 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 9.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in Lennar by 3.5% during the first quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 3,067,185 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $322,392,000 after purchasing an additional 102,601 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Lennar by 3.2% in the first quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,057,384 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $321,362,000 after acquiring an additional 94,694 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Lennar by 111.4% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,467,501 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $259,359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,163 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Lennar by 551.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,824,684 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $191,793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,544,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Lennar by 10.9% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,598,433 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $198,797,000 after acquiring an additional 156,691 shares during the period. 79.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.