National Pension Service Decreases Position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

National Pension Service cut its stake in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN – Get Rating) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 453,420 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 14,023 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Lennar were worth $33,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Karp Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its stake in Lennar by 92.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 407 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Lennar by 44.5% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 552 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $60,000. 82.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Lennar from $103.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Lennar in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Lennar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $116.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Lennar in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Lennar from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $102.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.73.

Lennar Stock Performance

Shares of LEN stock opened at $104.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 7.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Lennar Co. has a 52 week low of $62.54 and a 52 week high of $109.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.19 billion, a PE ratio of 6.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $99.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.24.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 15th. The construction company reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.56. Lennar had a net margin of 13.70% and a return on equity of 22.87%. The company had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Lennar Co. will post 9.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 27th were given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 26th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Lennar Company Profile

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Lennar Corp. engages in the provision of real estate related financial and investment management services. It operates through the following segments: Homebuilding East, Central, Texas, and West, Financial Services, Multifamily, and Lennar Other. The Homebuilding East, Central, Texas, and West segment constructs and sells homes primarily for first-time, move-up, and active adult homebuyers primarily under the Lennar brand name.