California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Holdings in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its position in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 485,411 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 18,888 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Lennar were worth $72,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lennar in the third quarter worth $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lennar in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lennar from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Lennar from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Lennar from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Lennar from $175.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Lennar from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lennar news, Director Amy Banse acquired 1,575 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $157.00 per share, with a total value of $247,275.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,861,863. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Stock Down 1.0 %

Lennar stock opened at $154.12 on Thursday. Lennar Co. has a twelve month low of $102.90 and a twelve month high of $172.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $159.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.48. The firm has a market cap of $42.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 5.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $7.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.39 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 11.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.02%.

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.