Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 104,700 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,278,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LEN. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Lennar in the third quarter valued at $115,229,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Lennar by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $446,110,000 after acquiring an additional 589,553 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Lennar by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $308,696,000 after acquiring an additional 397,492 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Lennar by 258.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 494,848 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $92,774,000 after acquiring an additional 356,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Lennar by 23,048.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 150,462 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,209,000 after acquiring an additional 149,812 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Price Performance

LEN stock opened at $120.59 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $133.10 and a 200-day moving average of $161.03. Lennar Co. has a 12-month low of $117.90 and a 12-month high of $193.80. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $32.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.67.

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). Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on LEN. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Lennar in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Lennar from $170.00 to $152.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Lennar from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.88.

Lennar Company Profile

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.