Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Given New $164.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its target price lifted by Evercore ISI from $161.00 to $164.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, FlyOnTheWall reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on LEN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, June 16th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Lennar from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Lennar from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 30th. Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and issued a $123.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a research note on Monday, September 11th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reissued a buy rating on shares of Lennar in a research note on Wednesday, June 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $130.94.

Lennar Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE LEN opened at $117.03 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.48. Lennar has a 12-month low of $69.90 and a 12-month high of $133.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $122.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.64. The company has a current ratio of 7.09, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, September 15th. The construction company reported $3.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $8.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 12.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 7th were paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 6th. Lennar’s payout ratio is 11.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennar

In related news, Director Amy Banse acquired 859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $117.65 per share, for a total transaction of $101,061.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,055,555.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Lennar news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.48, for a total value of $1,264,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,386 shares in the company, valued at $17,882,501.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy Banse purchased 859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $117.65 per share, for a total transaction of $101,061.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,055,555.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 2,634 shares of company stock worth $321,855. 9.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Lennar by 551.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,824,684 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $191,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544,432 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Lennar by 111.4% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,467,501 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $259,359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,163 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in Lennar by 75,322.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 935,987 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $117,288,000 after purchasing an additional 934,746 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Lennar in the 1st quarter worth about $61,173,000. Finally, Duquesne Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Lennar in the 4th quarter worth about $39,991,000. 79.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.