The Goldman Sachs Group Has Lowered Expectations for Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Stock Price

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its price target reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $190.00 to $162.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the construction company’s stock.

LEN has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Lennar from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Lennar from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. JMP Securities increased their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Lennar from $210.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.19.

Lennar Price Performance

Lennar stock opened at $138.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $37.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.61. Lennar has a 52-week low of $135.21 and a 52-week high of $193.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 4.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $167.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.34.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12). Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.82 EPS. Lennar’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Lennar will post 14.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $3,064,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. The trade was a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lennar by 23,048.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 150,462 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,209,000 after acquiring an additional 149,812 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lennar by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,666,905 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $499,991,000 after purchasing an additional 89,896 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 147.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 69,226 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,978,000 after purchasing an additional 41,264 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 101.2% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after buying an additional 4,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Lennar by 8.7% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 101,463 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $19,022,000 after buying an additional 8,092 shares during the period. 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.