Lennar Corporation $LEN Shares Sold by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Key Points

• Teachers Retirement System of Kentucky sharply reduced its Lennar stake by 91.2% in the first quarter, selling 192,250 shares and leaving it with 18,525 shares worth about $1.61 million.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted positions in Lennar, and institutional ownership remains high at 81.10% of the company’s shares.
• Analysts are generally cautious on Lennar: the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" with a consensus price target of $92.80, while the company recently reported quarterly EPS above estimates but revenue below expectations.

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its holdings in shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) by 91.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LEN. Viking Global Investors LP grew its holdings in Lennar by 86.7% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,523,594 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $279,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,068 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 90.9% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 934,856 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $95,941,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in Lennar by 1,303.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 490,105 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $50,383,000 after acquiring an additional 455,174 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Lennar by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,127,225 shares of the construction company's stock worth $218,681,000 after acquiring an additional 228,247 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on LEN. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $107.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Seaport Research Partners restated a "sell" rating and set a $74.00 price target (down from $140.00) on shares of Lennar in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Lennar in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Zacks Research cut Lennar from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Lennar from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and ten have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $92.80.

Lennar Price Performance

Lennar stock opened at $85.44 on Thursday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $88.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.09. Lennar Corporation has a 12-month low of $81.18 and a 12-month high of $144.24. The stock has a market cap of $20.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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%.

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.

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