Berkshire Hathaway Inc Buys 695,014 Shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Stock

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 695,014 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $78.98 per share, with a total value of $54,892,205.72. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 21,728,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,105,083. The trade was a 3.30% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own 10% or more 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 acquired 667,118 shares of Lennar stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $77.74 per share, for a total transaction of $51,861,753.32.
• On Friday, September 18th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 1,381,397 shares of Lennar stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $76.48 per share, with a total value of $105,649,242.56.

Lennar Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE LEN traded up $1.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $78.00. 4,945,274 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,793,928. The stock has a market cap 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 current ratio of 4.94 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Lennar Corporation has a one year low of $75.70 and a one year high of $133.76. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.09.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 16th. The construction company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). Lennar had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 4.09%.The business had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Lennar Corporation will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennar

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Lennar by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,546,970 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $221,176,000 after purchasing an additional 419,745 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its holdings in Lennar by 90.9% during the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 1,963,373 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $201,835,000 after buying an additional 934,856 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Lennar by 4.8% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 601,468 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $52,231,000 after buying an additional 27,500 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lennar by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 461,696 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,462,000 after buying an additional 43,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Lennar by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 445,407 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $45,788,000 after acquiring an additional 19,878 shares in the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on LEN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Lennar from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lennar in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial reduced their price target 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. Benchmark raised shares of Lennar to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Lennar from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and ten have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $88.87.

Lennar Company Profile

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.