Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Stock Price

Key Points

• Barclays cut its price target on Lennar from $88 to $85 and gave an underweight rating, implying roughly a 10.36% downside from the current share price.
• Multiple brokerages including Goldman Sachs, UBS and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods have reduced targets or downgraded the stock, leaving a MarketBeat consensus of Reduce with an average target of $104.50.
• Lennar recently missed quarterly estimates (EPS $0.88 vs. $0.95 expected; revenue $6.62B vs. $6.90B), with revenue down 13.3% year‑over‑year, indicating near‑term operational softness.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by equities research analysts at Barclays from $88.00 to $85.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "underweight" rating on the construction company's stock. Barclays's target price would suggest a potential downside of 10.36% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on LEN. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Lennar from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Lennar from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Lennar from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $104.50.

Lennar Price Performance

LEN stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $94.82. 864,739 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,975,202. Lennar has a 12 month low of $92.17 and a 12 month high of $144.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $112.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 4.77 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The construction company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.07). Lennar had a return on equity of 7.80% and a net margin of 5.39%.The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.14 EPS. Lennar's revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Lennar by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Lennar by 29.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 13,840 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,589,000 after buying an additional 3,177 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 190.9% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 573 shares of the construction company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 6.6% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 56,944 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,299,000 after buying an additional 3,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Lennar by 266.7% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 107,717 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $11,915,000 after acquiring an additional 78,345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company's stock.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation NYSE: LEN is a U.S.-based homebuilder and real estate company that designs, constructs and sells residential housing. The company offers a range of product types including single-family detached homes, townhomes and condominiums, serving buyers from entry-level and first-time purchasers to move-up, active-adult and luxury segments. Lennar also develops master-planned communities and manages land acquisition and entitlement activities that support its homebuilding operations.

In addition to home construction and sales, Lennar provides a suite of ancillary services intended to streamline the purchase process and capture additional value.

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