Lennar's LEN.N shares were up 3.3% at $80.64 premarket on Tuesday after Berkshire Hathaway BRKa.N revealed it had increased its stake in the homebuilder.
Berkshire bought more than 2.7 million LEN Class A and Class B shares from Sept. 17 to Sept. 21 across multiple transactions, at weighted-average prices ranging from $74.80 to $79.41, according to an SEC filing late Monday.
Warren Buffett was listed as a reporting person alongside Berkshire, which disclosed becoming a 10% owner on Sept. 17.
Berkshire holds, indirectly, about 23.7 million shares of LEN's roughly 210.5 million Class A shares outstanding; that makes it LEN's largest investor, surpassing BlackRock's roughly 6.3% stake, per LSEG data.
Berkshire expands housing exposure as Lennar faces weak demand
The latest investment comes as Berkshire expands its exposure to the housing market. The conglomerate also owns stock in D.R. Horton DHI.N and completed its $6.8 billion acquisition of Taylor Morrison in July.
Last week, LEN said its third-quarter profit roughly halved to $1.19 per share from a year ago, as persistently high mortgage rates weighed on demand, missing the consensus view of $1.30 per share.
Of 20 analysts covering LEN, the recommendation breakdown is 2 "strong buy", 9 "hold", 8 "sell" and 1 "strong sell" ratings; median price target is $78.
At Monday's close, the stock was down 24% year to date versus a 9% drop in the S&P 500 Homebuilding index .SPLRCHOME and a 7% decline in the S&P 1500 Homebuilding index .SPCOMHOME.
LEN•
