Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Holdings in Lennar Corporation $LEN

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,901 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 22,909 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Lennar were worth $6,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LEN. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 77.7% in the first quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 3,649 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in Lennar by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,965 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Lennar by 199.9% during the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 31,187 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,580,000 after buying an additional 20,787 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 62.4% during the 1st quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 11,711 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,344,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Finally, Circle Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lennar in the 1st quarter worth $462,000. 81.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on LEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Lennar from $97.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Lennar from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Lennar from $133.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Lennar from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lennar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.75.

Lennar Trading Up 1.7%

Lennar stock opened at $125.33 on Wednesday. Lennar Corporation has a 12-month low of $98.42 and a 12-month high of $180.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a P/E/G ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $127.31 and a 200 day moving average of $119.05. The company has a current ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The construction company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.01 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 11.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Lennar Corporation will post 12.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Lennar’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.76%.

About Lennar

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.