Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Lowers Stock Position in Lennar Corporation $LEN

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its stake in shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 91.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,525 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 192,250 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Lennar were worth $1,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 86.7% during the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,523,594 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $279,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,068 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Lennar by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,127,225 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $218,681,000 after purchasing an additional 228,247 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. lifted its stake in Lennar by 90.9% during the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 1,963,373 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $201,835,000 after purchasing an additional 934,856 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Lennar during the fourth quarter worth $95,941,000. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 3.7% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 555,305 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $69,991,000 after buying an additional 19,566 shares during the period. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lennar Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE:LEN opened at $85.44 on Thursday. Lennar Corporation has a 12-month low of $81.18 and a 12-month high of $144.24. The firm has a market cap of $20.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 4.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.09.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 11th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.08 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 7.08% and a net margin of 4.93%.Lennar’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lennar Corporation will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LEN shares. BTIG Research set a $67.00 price objective on Lennar in a report on Monday, June 15th. Argus set a $108.00 target price on Lennar in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Lennar from $104.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (down from $140.00) on shares of Lennar in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and ten have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lennar has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $92.80.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) is a U.S.-based homebuilder and real estate company that designs, constructs and sells residential housing. The company offers a range of product types including single-family detached homes, townhomes and condominiums, serving buyers from entry-level and first-time purchasers to move-up, active-adult and luxury segments. Lennar also develops master-planned communities and manages land acquisition and entitlement activities that support its homebuilding operations.

In addition to home construction and sales, Lennar provides a suite of ancillary services intended to streamline the purchase process and capture additional value.