Ruffer LLP Takes Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Ruffer LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 23,617 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,221,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lennar by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,666,905 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $499,991,000 after purchasing an additional 89,896 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 147.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 69,226 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,978,000 after buying an additional 41,264 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter valued at about $900,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Lennar by 101.2% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 4,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Lennar by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $308,696,000 after buying an additional 397,492 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on LEN shares. BTIG Research downgraded Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Lennar from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Lennar from $196.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.88.

Lennar Trading Down 0.7 %

LEN opened at $125.24 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $129.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $157.65. Lennar Co. has a 12-month low of $116.67 and a 12-month high of $187.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.25 billion, a PE ratio of 8.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The construction company reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.15 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s payout ratio is currently 13.95%.

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.