Oppenheimer Reiterates “Market Perform” Rating for Lennar (NYSE:LEN)

Lennar (NYSE:LEN)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reissued by investment analysts at Oppenheimer in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on LEN. Raymond James upped their price objective on Lennar from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on Lennar from $170.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on Lennar from $132.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Lennar in a research note on Monday, November 27th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $117.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.31.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEN traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $156.61. The stock had a trading volume of 2,022,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,169,050. Lennar has a 1 year low of $100.95 and a 1 year high of $167.49. The company has a current ratio of 5.47, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $154.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.81. The company has a market cap of $43.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.52.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.36. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 11.59%. The business had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Lennar will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lennar

In other news, VP Mark Sustana sold 37,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.38, for a total value of $5,460,559.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,736,427.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Lennar news, CFO Diane J. Bessette sold 10,000 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.73, for a total transaction of $1,477,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 260,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,491,937.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Sustana sold 37,304 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.38, for a total value of $5,460,559.52. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,736,427.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LEN. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.87% of the company’s stock.

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.