Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Stock Price

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its target price decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the construction company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential upside of 5.54% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Zelman & Associates raised Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Lennar from $164.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their target price on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $180.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Lennar from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.56.

Lennar Price Performance

Lennar stock traded up $1.85 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $170.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 149,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,054,896. Lennar has a 12 month low of $118.92 and a 12 month 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $180.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.09. The company has a market capitalization of $46.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.62.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.14 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.91 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 14.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total value of $3,064,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,654.57. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar in the first quarter valued at approximately $349,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Lennar during the 1st quarter valued at $702,000. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Lennar by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,432 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,310,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 56.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,965 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,517 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd raised its position in shares of Lennar by 4.5% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 14,146 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

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.