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

Ruffer LLP purchased a new stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 23,617 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,221,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Inc. AR acquired a new stake in Lennar during the 3rd quarter worth about $228,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lennar by 5.6% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,685 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $878,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Lennar during the third quarter worth $2,352,000. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Lennar by 22.4% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 1,997 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on LEN shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Lennar from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Lennar from $190.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lennar from $135.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Lennar from $205.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Lennar from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $163.88.

Lennar Price Performance

NYSE:LEN opened at $125.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $33.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.65. Lennar Co. has a 52 week low of $116.67 and a 52 week high of $187.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 4.71.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

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