Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Price Target Increased to $160.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its target price boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $145.00 to $160.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the construction company’s stock.

LEN has been the subject of several other reports. Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their price target on Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Lennar from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $237.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lennar from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $181.94.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEN opened at $183.13 on Monday. Lennar has a 12-month low of $102.90 and a 12-month high of $193.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 4.90, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $177.67 and a 200 day moving average of $164.42.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.28. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 11.51%. The company had revenue of $9.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.91 EPS. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 14.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.60%.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEN. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 4,053 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $604,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Lennar by 53.7% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 33,925 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,056,000 after buying an additional 11,851 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,204 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,419,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Lennar by 196.1% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,357 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 4,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter worth about $900,000. 81.10% of the stock is 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.