California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 33,362 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 410,417 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 33,362 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Lennar were worth $55,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEN. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,271,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $446,110,000 after purchasing an additional 589,553 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Lennar by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,250,626 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $308,696,000 after buying an additional 397,492 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lennar by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 691,910 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $129,719,000 after acquiring an additional 3,130 shares in the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 396,289 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $54,042,000 after acquiring an additional 42,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennar by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 391,524 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $53,392,000 after acquiring an additional 13,474 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on LEN. BTIG Research downgraded Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Lennar from $121.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Lennar from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.07.

Lennar Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Lennar stock opened at $114.37 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $123.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.37 billion, a PE ratio of 7.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.69. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $111.26 and a 52-week high of $187.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The construction company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.44 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.57 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is 14.57%.

Lennar 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.