Lennar, PulteGroup gain as Keybanc promotes to "overweight"

Gibraltar Industries

07/01/2019 15:28

** Shares of homebuilders Lennar Corp  LEN.N  and PulteGroup
Inc  PHM.N  rose 3.3 pct and 4.2 pct, respectively, after
Keybanc research note upgrading the cos to "overweight" from
"sector weight"
    ** Broker also upgrades building supply cos Masco Corp
 MAS.N  and Gibraltar Industries Inc  ROCK.O  to "overweight"
from "sector weight"
    ** Analyst Kenneth Zener sees risk abating with "Fed set to
stop, slow rate hikes"
    ** Sees market's positive sentiment regarding interest rates
prevailing over negative housing starts data in the near term
    ** On Jan 9, analysts expect LEN to post Q4 adj EPS of
$1.93; on Jan 29, PHM is seen posting Q4 EPS of $1.11
    ** Both LEN and PHM have beaten Street estimates in 7 of the
8 most recent qtrs (Refinitiv data)
    ** In the last 12 mos, LEN and PHM have dropped by ~37 pct
and ~19 pct, respectively
    ** Meanwhile, the S&P 1500 Homebuilders index  .SPCOMHOME 
has fallen ~32 pct, worse than the broader S&P 500's  .SPX  ~8
pct decline since a year ago

 (Reporting by Stephen Culp)
 ((stephen.culp@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-6076;))