Evercore ISI Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Stock

Key Points

• Evercore ISI raised Lennar's price target to $118.00, reflecting a potential downside of 3.80% from its previous close.
• Lennar recently reported earnings of $2.29 EPS, beating estimates, but its revenue fell 6.4% year-over-year to $8.81 billion.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Lennar, with ratings ranging from Strong Buy to Sell, and a consensus price target of $122.00.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) had its price objective upped by Evercore ISI from $114.00 to $118.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the construction company's stock.

LEN has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Zelman & Associates downgraded shares of Lennar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Lennar from $146.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lennar from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.25.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of LEN stock traded down $5.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $121.90. 6,039,107 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,870,134. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $126.15 and a 200 day moving average of $115.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 4.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Lennar has a 52-week low of $98.42 and a 52-week high of $189.65. The company has a market cap of $31.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The construction company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.15. Lennar had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 11.09%. The business had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.90 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Lennar will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Lennar

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Lennar by 45.4% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,894,125 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,020,866,000 after acquiring an additional 2,777,567 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $424,950,000. Viking Global Investors LP increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 86.7% during the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,523,594 shares of the construction company's stock worth $279,135,000 after buying an additional 1,172,068 shares during the last quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,189,608 shares of the construction company's stock worth $251,323,000 after buying an additional 415,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eminence Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 130.8% during the 1st quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 1,581,489 shares of the construction company's stock worth $181,523,000 after buying an additional 896,264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company's stock.

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.