Korea Investment CORP Sells 15,646 Shares of Lennar Corporation $LEN

Korea Investment CORP reduced its position in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 152,256 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 15,646 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Lennar were worth $19,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Viking Global Investors LP grew its stake in Lennar by 86.7% during the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,523,594 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $279,135,000 after buying an additional 1,172,068 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lennar in the third quarter worth about $26,371,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 319.4% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 274,173 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $34,557,000 after acquiring an additional 208,800 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 86.1% during the second quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 443,477 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $49,749,000 after acquiring an additional 205,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 1,656.1% during the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 155,626 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $17,214,000 after acquiring an additional 146,764 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Lennar from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore downgraded shares of Lennar from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $114.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group lowered shares of Lennar from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $122.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Lennar from $133.00 to $113.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Argus raised Lennar to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $106.14.

Lennar Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE LEN opened at $98.78 on Wednesday. Lennar Corporation has a 1 year low of $96.40 and a 1 year high of $144.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 4.89 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $113.03 and a 200 day moving average of $120.36.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 16th. The construction company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.27). Lennar had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 9.27%. The company had revenue of $9.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Lennar’s payout ratio is presently 25.03%.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) is a U.S.-based homebuilder and real estate company that designs, constructs and sells residential housing. The company offers a range of product types including single-family detached homes, townhomes and condominiums, serving buyers from entry-level and first-time purchasers to move-up, active-adult and luxury segments. Lennar also develops master-planned communities and manages land acquisition and entitlement activities that support its homebuilding operations.

In addition to home construction and sales, Lennar provides a suite of ancillary services intended to streamline the purchase process and capture additional value.