Lennar rises after Berkshire discloses stake boost
BUZZ-Lennar rises after Berkshire discloses stake boost ** Lennar's LEN.N shares up 3.3% at $80.64 premarket on Tues after Berkshire Hathaway BRKa.N revealed increasing its stake in the homebuilder
** Berkshire bought more than 2.7 mln 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 Mon
** Warren Buffett was listed as a reporting person alongside Berkshire, which disclosed becoming a 10% owner on Sept 17
** Berkshire holds, indirectly, ~23.7 mln shares of LEN's ~210.5 mln Class A shares outstanding; that makes it LEN's largest investor, surpassing BlackRock's ~6.3% stake, per LSEG data
** 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 bln acquisition of Taylor Morrison in July
** Last week, LEN said its Q3 profit roughly halved to $1.19/sh from a year ago, as persistently high mortgage rates weighed on demand, missing consensus view of $1.30/sh profit
** Of 20 analysts covering LEN, recommendation breakdown is 2 "strong buy", 9 "hold", 8 "sell" and 1 "strong sell" ratings; median PT $78
** At Mon close, stock down 24% YTD vs 9% drop in S&P 500 Homebuilding index .SPLRCHOME and 7% decline in S&P 1500 Homebuilding index .SPCOMHOME
(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))
Recent news on D.R. Horton
See all newsUS RESEARCH ROUNDUP-3M, Constellation Energy, Metropolitan Bank
US homebuilders hit 18-month low as hot CPI lifts rate-hike bets
US STOCKS ON THE MOVE-Cardinal Health, nVent, Acuity
U.S. STOCKS ON THE MOVE-Cardinal Health, Fervo Energy, Rocket Lab
U.S. STOCKS ON THE MOVE-Progress Software, Vicor Corp, Accenture