Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Price Target to $75.00

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $85.00 to $75.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underperform” rating on the construction company’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target suggests a potential downside of 8.02% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Lennar from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Lennar from $85.00 to $69.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays lowered their price objective on Lennar from $79.00 to $70.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Lennar from $107.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $81.00.

Lennar Stock Performance

LEN traded up $3.46 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $81.54. The company had a trading volume of 2,306,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,970,460. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 4.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.09. The company has a market cap of $19.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.39. Lennar has a 1 year low of $75.70 and a 1 year high of $133.76.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 16th. The construction company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.32 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 4.09% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lennar will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 667,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $77.74 per share, for a total transaction of $51,861,753.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 23,719,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,843,923,533.66. This represents a 2.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders bought 2,743,529 shares of company stock valued at $212,403,202 over the last quarter. Insiders own 10.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LEN. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 1,276.4% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 757 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Lennar by 5.3% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,609 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar during the second quarter valued at $317,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Lennar by 15.6% during the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,873 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lennar in the 2nd quarter worth $232,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Lennar

Here are the key news stories impacting Lennar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway bought approximately $212.4 million of Lennar stock. Berkshire purchased about 2.74 million shares across September 17, 18 and 21, raising its direct ownership to more than 10%. The investment is supporting sentiment by signaling that Berkshire considers Lennar’s depressed valuation attractive. Berkshire buys Lennar stock
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation is drawing investor interest. Lennar is trading near its 52-week low and below book value, which could offer downside support if housing conditions stabilize. The company also has relatively low leverage, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share. Lennar below book value article
• Neutral Sentiment: Lennar acquired 444 lots near TSMC’s Phoenix-area project for $60 million. The land could benefit from future employment and population growth connected to the semiconductor investment, but the deal is unlikely to materially affect near-term earnings. Lennar Phoenix lots article
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter results missed expectations. Lennar reported EPS of $1.23 versus the $1.29 consensus and revenue of $8.05 billion versus estimates of $8.32 billion. Revenue fell 8.7% year over year, while a 15.8% gross margin reflected heavy incentives needed to offset affordability pressures. Lennar earnings and margins
• Negative Sentiment: Management cut its annual delivery forecast. Lennar now expects to deliver 80,000–81,000 homes, down from 82,000–83,000 previously, underscoring the impact of high mortgage rates and weak buyer affordability. Lennar delivery forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Citigroup lowered its price target to $85 from $88 and retained a neutral rating. The reduction reflects diminished earnings expectations following Lennar’s quarterly miss; broader analyst sentiment remains cautious. Citigroup Lennar price target

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation is one of the largest homebuilders in the United States. Founded in 1954 and headquartered in Miami, Florida, the company designs, constructs, and sells single-family homes and communities for a range of buyers, including first-time, move-up, and active-adult purchasers.

Lennar operates across many of the country’s major housing markets, including communities in the West, Southwest, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and other metropolitan areas. Its homebuilding operations offer a variety of floor plans and home designs, while the company also develops residential communities and provides related services such as mortgage financing, title, and closing services through its financial-services businesses.

In addition to traditional homebuilding, Lennar has expanded into multifamily development and other residential real-estate activities.