Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on LEN. Bank of America dropped their price target on Lennar from $133.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Lennar from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Lennar from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.77.

Lennar Stock Down 0.2%

LEN stock opened at $129.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $124.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.60. Lennar has a 12 month low of $98.42 and a 12 month high of $175.65.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.14). Lennar had a return on equity of 11.09% and a net margin of 7.72%.The company had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.90 earnings per share. Lennar’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 27th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Lennar’s payout ratio is presently 19.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEN. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in shares of Lennar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lennar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lennar during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. 81.10% of the stock is 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.