National Pension Service Acquires 55,572 Shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Lennar Corporation by 15.2%, owning approximately 421,120 shares valued at $48.3 million as of its most recent SEC filing.
• Lennar reported $1.90 earnings per share for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations, with total revenue of $8.38 billion, down 4.4% year-over-year.
• Recent analyst ratings include a downgrade from a "hold" to a "sell" by Wall Street Zen, with a consensus target price for Lennar stock now at $128.85.

National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN - Free Report) by 15.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 421,120 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 55,572 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.16% of Lennar worth $48,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lennar in the 1st quarter worth $926,000. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc raised its holdings in Lennar by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 2,183 shares of the construction company's stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Lennar by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 208,763 shares of the construction company's stock worth $23,962,000 after acquiring an additional 4,332 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lennar by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 42,041 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,825,000 after acquiring an additional 8,357 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,965 shares of the construction company's stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEN has been the topic of several research reports. Zelman & Associates downgraded shares of Lennar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $131.00 to $114.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $164.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Lennar from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lennar presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $128.85.

Lennar Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Lennar stock traded up $1.58 on Friday, hitting $132.03. The company had a trading volume of 5,172,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,904,637. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.29. Lennar Corporation has a twelve month low of $98.42 and a twelve month high of $193.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 3.65 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $113.98 and a 200-day moving average of $114.08.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, June 16th. The construction company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $8.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.21 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 9.20%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. Research analysts predict that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Lennar's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.54%.

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.