Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Lennar (NYSE:LEN) to Equal Weight

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $190.00 price target on the construction company's stock, down from their prior price target of $205.00. Wells Fargo & Company's price target indicates a potential upside of 4.42% from the company's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on LEN. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their target price on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $164.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Lennar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $154.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Lennar from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lennar has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $181.11.

Lennar Stock Performance

NYSE LEN traded down $0.29 on Monday, hitting $181.96. The stock had a trading volume of 1,962,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,077,134. Lennar has a one year low of $102.90 and a one year high of $193.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $49.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.61. The company's 50-day moving average is $179.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.70.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.28. Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The firm had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.91 EPS. Lennar's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Lennar will post 14.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its position in Lennar by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,330 shares of the construction company's stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $370,000. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Lennar by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 49,237 shares of the construction company's stock worth $9,231,000 after buying an additional 2,575 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. lifted its position in Lennar by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 13,263 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,487,000 after buying an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMPACTfolio LLC purchased a new stake in Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.