Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,838 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,614 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Lennar were worth $3,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Coastline Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 2.8% during the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 27,573 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,169,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 1.7% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,798 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Soditic Asset Management LLP grew its position in shares of Lennar by 143.1% in the third quarter. Soditic Asset Management LLP now owns 29,290 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,491,000 after purchasing an additional 17,240 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Lennar by 6.9% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 35,744 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,701,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Finally, FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Lennar by 54.5% in the 3rd quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 3,146 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LEN shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $171.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Lennar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Lennar from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Lennar from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Lennar from $154.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.56.

Lennar Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:LEN opened at $168.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.62. Lennar Co. has a one year low of $125.17 and a one year high of $193.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 4.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $179.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.88.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The construction company reported $3.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $9.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.14 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 14.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey Sonnenfeld sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.13, for a total transaction of $3,064,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,148,654.57. This represents a 42.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.