ISI Group Reiterates Buy Rating, $45 PT on Lennar Corporation Ahead of 4Q Earnings Report

In a report published Monday, ISI Group analyst Stephen East reiterated a Buy rating and $45.00 price target on Lennar Corporation LEN. In the report, East noted, “Last quarter LEN beat consensus on virtually every metric, conducted a solid conference call, yet the equity was hit hard on its earnings day. The point of rehashing that event is that investors have very high expectations for this industry—expectations that may be a bit irrational. We believe there is a fair amount of fast money sitting on the short side of this name, looking for a repeat of last quarter. We expect a very solid result again this quarter, yet we do believe LEN needs a positive surprise in either Orders or margin—preferably margin—to have the equity pop usefully. If we do see some strong surprises from this release, expect short-covering, boosting the performance. Conversely, if there is some weakness in the numbers, we may see a piling-on effect.Regardless, we do forecast another solid quarter, with strong management commentary as well.” Lennar Corporation closed on Friday at $41.77.