Waverly Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,416 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Lennar by 611.9% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 299 shares of the construction company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Lennar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEN has been the subject of several research reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Lennar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and issued a $131.00 price target (down previously from $159.00) on shares of Lennar in a report on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Lennar from $141.00 to $120.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Lennar from $121.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Lennar from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $150.07.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN traded down $2.93 on Wednesday, reaching $105.16. 2,465,221 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,628,948. The stock has a market cap of $27.74 billion, a PE ratio of 7.33, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.41. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $109.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $129.18. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $98.42 and a 52-week high of $187.61.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.44 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 23rd. Lennar's payout ratio is currently 14.57%.

Lennar 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.