Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Receives “Underperform” Rating from Bank of America

Bank of America reaffirmed their underperform rating on shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) in a research note released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. Bank of America currently has a $95.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $125.00.

LEN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI cut shares of Lennar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $114.00 to $92.00 in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (down from $118.00) on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, December 4th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lennar in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $109.62.

Lennar Price Performance

LEN stock opened at $108.48 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 4.89, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $27.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.51. Lennar has a twelve month low of $98.42 and a twelve month high of $144.24.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 16th. The construction company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $9.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.17 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 9.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Lennar’s payout ratio is 25.03%.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its holdings in Lennar by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 1,127 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its position in Lennar by 2.1% during the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 4,255 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 6.2% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,595 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Lennar by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 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.