Berkshire Hathaway Inc Buys 1,381,397 Shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Stock

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 1,381,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $76.48 per share, with a total value of $105,649,242.56. Following the purchase, the insider owned 23,075,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,764,777,912. This represents a 6.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, September 21st, Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 667,118 shares of Lennar stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.74 per share, with a total value of $51,861,753.32.
• On Thursday, September 17th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 695,014 shares of Lennar stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $78.98 per share, for a total transaction of $54,892,205.72.

Lennar Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of LEN traded up $1.57 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $78.00. The company had a trading volume of 4,945,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,793,928. Lennar Corporation has a 1 year low of $75.70 and a 1 year high of $133.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 4.94. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.09.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 16th. The construction company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). Lennar had a net margin of 4.09% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The firm had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lennar Corporation will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Lennar’s payout ratio is presently 37.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennar

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LEN. MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its position in Lennar by 2,522.7% during the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 114,245 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,744,000 after purchasing an additional 109,889 shares during the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar during the fourth quarter worth about $6,437,000. Myriad Asset Management Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lennar during the fourth quarter worth about $1,511,000. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in Lennar by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 42,464 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,365,000 after acquiring an additional 15,802 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lennar by 77.1% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 89,178 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,070,000 after acquiring an additional 38,822 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore lifted their price target on Lennar from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Bank of America cut their target price on Lennar from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Lennar from $85.00 to $69.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Lennar from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Lennar from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and ten have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $88.87.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation is one of the largest homebuilders in the United States. Founded in 1954 and headquartered in Miami, Florida, the company designs, constructs, and sells single-family homes and communities for a range of buyers, including first-time, move-up, and active-adult purchasers.

Lennar operates across many of the country’s major housing markets, including communities in the West, Southwest, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and other metropolitan areas. Its homebuilding operations offer a variety of floor plans and home designs, while the company also develops residential communities and provides related services such as mortgage financing, title, and closing services through its financial-services businesses.

In addition to traditional homebuilding, Lennar has expanded into multifamily development and other residential real-estate activities.