Lennar (NYSE:LEN) Major Shareholder Purchases 1,381,397 Shares

Key Points

• Berkshire Hathaway purchased 1,381,397 Lennar shares at an average $76.48 each, investing approximately $105.6 million and increasing its stake by 6.37% to 23.1 million shares. Berkshire also made two additional purchases totaling more than 1.36 million shares.
• Lennar’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, with EPS of $1.23 versus a $1.29 estimate and revenue of $8.05 billion versus $8.32 billion expected. Revenue declined 8.7% year over year, while shares traded near $78—close to the company’s 12-month low.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Lennar has one Buy, eight Hold, and ten Sell ratings, producing an overall “Reduce” consensus and an average price target of $88.87. The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.50, yielding about 2.6% annually.

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 1,381,397 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $76.48 per share, with a total value of $105,649,242.56. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 23,075,025 shares in the company, valued at $1,764,777,912. This represents a 6.37% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their transactions 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 shares were purchased 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 bought 695,014 shares of Lennar stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $78.98 per share, for a total transaction of $54,892,205.72.

Lennar Price Performance

Shares of LEN traded up $1.57 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $78.00. 4,945,274 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,793,928. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $84.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.09. Lennar Corporation has a 12-month low of $75.70 and a 12-month high of $133.76. 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 has a market cap of $18.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.39.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 16th. The construction company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.32 billion. Lennar had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 4.09%.Lennar's quarterly revenue was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. Research analysts expect that Lennar Corporation will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $0.50 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is 37.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Lennar by 1,276.4% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 757 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lennar by 5.3% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,609 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,322,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the period. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar in the second quarter valued at $317,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lennar by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,873 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Lennar during the 2nd quarter worth about $232,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Lennar from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 11th. Zacks Research cut shares of Lennar from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Lennar from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Lennar in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Benchmark raised shares of Lennar to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lennar currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target 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.

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