Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Stock Price

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $180.00 to $165.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Lennar from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays downgraded Lennar from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $181.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $184.00.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of Lennar stock opened at $138.40 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Lennar has a 52 week low of $135.21 and a 52 week high of $193.80. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.58. The company has a market capitalization of $37.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.61.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12). The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Lennar will post 14.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Lennar’s payout ratio is 13.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lennar news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total value 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 trade represents a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEN. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lennar during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 933.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 155 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Lennar in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in Lennar by 4,225.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 173 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 523.3% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 187 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.