Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on LEN. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Lennar from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Lennar from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.07.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of LEN opened at $113.83 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $124.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.94. The stock has a market cap of $30.22 billion, a PE ratio of 7.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. Lennar has a 1-year low of $111.26 and a 1-year high of $187.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 69.4% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Lennar during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 81.10% of the stock is currently 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.