Ellsworth Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,215 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lennar were worth $2,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Lennar by 5.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,544,345 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $734,477,000 after acquiring an additional 366,983 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Lennar by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,681,233 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $399,611,000 after acquiring an additional 79,217 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Lennar by 551.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,824,684 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $191,793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,544,432 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Lennar by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,700,016 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $253,319,000 after acquiring an additional 72,146 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lennar by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,542,363 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $173,099,000 after acquiring an additional 6,803 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennar Trading Up 2.1 %

LEN traded up $3.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $171.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,132,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,324,459. The company has a current ratio of 5.47, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $48.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $156.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.98. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $100.95 and a 52-week high of $172.59.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $7.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.39 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 11.59%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lennar Co. will post 14.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. This is a boost from Lennar’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Lennar’s payout ratio is presently 14.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LEN. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Lennar from $138.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Lennar from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Lennar from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Lennar from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Lennar from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.69.

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.