Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 755 Shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its stake in shares of Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,157 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 755 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Lennar were worth $1,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lennar by 484.0% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lennar during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Lennar during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.10% of the company’s stock.

Lennar Trading Up 1.0 %

LEN stock traded up $1.69 during trading on Monday, hitting $178.40. The company had a trading volume of 727,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,144,125. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.60. Lennar Co. has a 52-week low of $102.90 and a 52-week high of $178.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 4.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, June 17th. The construction company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.18. Lennar had a net margin of 11.58% and a return on equity of 15.93%. The company had revenue of $8.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.57 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lennar Co. will post 14.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 5th. Lennar’s payout ratio is 13.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.70, for a total value of $1,627,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,927,938.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Lennar news, VP Mark Sustana sold 9,176 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.88, for a total transaction of $1,512,938.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 16,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,764,707.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of Lennar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.70, for a total transaction of $1,627,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 128,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,927,938.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,176 shares of company stock worth $4,841,039 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Lennar from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Lennar from $237.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Lennar from $157.00 to $154.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.88.

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.