Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Stock Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 55,132 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,966 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Lennar were worth $8,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co raised its holdings in Lennar by 80.8% in the 4th quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 24,515 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,654,000 after purchasing an additional 10,957 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 6,297.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 662,277 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $98,706,000 after buying an additional 651,924 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments increased its holdings in Lennar by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 88,872 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,974,000 after acquiring an additional 12,469 shares in the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lennar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,367,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Lennar by 97.4% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 354,711 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $52,866,000 after purchasing an additional 174,981 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennar Trading Up 1.9 %

LEN opened at $158.10 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $159.74 and a 200 day moving average of $145.02. The company has a current ratio of 5.47, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Lennar Co. has a 12 month low of $102.90 and a 12 month high of $172.59. The firm has a market cap of $44.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.55.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.39 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 11.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 14.46 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Lennar’s payout ratio is 14.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on LEN. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Lennar from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Lennar from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Lennar from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Lennar from $179.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lennar news, Director Amy Banse bought 1,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $157.00 per share, with a total value of $247,275.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 11,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,861,863. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.