Lennar’s (LEN) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Citigroup

Lennar (NYSE:LEN)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Citigroup in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $139.00 price target on the construction company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 19.79% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of Lennar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $150.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Lennar from $113.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Lennar from $130.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Lennar in a research report on Wednesday, May 31st. They set a “sell” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.88.

Lennar Stock Performance

NYSE:LEN traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $116.04. 422,481 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,205,193. Lennar has a one year low of $69.90 and a one year high of $133.24. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.48.

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. Lennar had a net margin of 11.66% and a return on equity of 16.41%. The company had revenue of $8.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 12.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In related news, CFO Diane J. Bessette sold 10,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $1,310,553.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 270,556 shares in the company, valued at $32,861,731.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Diane J. Bessette sold 10,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $1,310,553.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 270,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,861,731.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of Lennar 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,882,501.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased 2,634 shares of company stock worth $321,855 over the last ninety days. 9.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Close Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lennar by 47.0% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lennar during the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lennar in the 2nd quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Lennar during the 2nd quarter valued at $61,000. 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.