Berkshire Hathaway has nearly doubled its stake in homebuilder Lennar since the end of June, pushing its holding to almost 11%. The purchases came in the weeks around Warren Buffett's exit as Berkshire chairman, as Lennar shares sit well below their level from two years ago amid a cooling US housing market.
Berkshire raises its Lennar stake past 10%
Berkshire Hathaway has nearly doubled its stake in homebuilder Lennar since the end of June, regulatory filings show. The conglomerate lifted its combined Class A and Class B shares from about 13.4 million at the end of June to 21.5 million on September 17.
Three days later, Berkshire disclosed it owned more than 10% of Lennar. As of last Friday, the firm held about 25.4 million shares, a stake near 11% worth around $2.1 billion. It spent about $349 million on Lennar stock between September 17 and 25.
A bet on a beaten-down stock
Berkshire first built its Lennar position in the first half of last year, and the latest buying follows the same value investing approach Buffett is known for: buying beaten-down businesses and holding for the long term. Lennar shares have slumped 21% this year to about $82, less than half their peak price two years ago.
The nation's second-largest homebuilder has been hit by a cooling US housing market. The war in Iran has rekindled inflation fears and pushed up borrowing costs, adding to an affordability crisis for prospective homebuyers.
Buffett steps back, the playbook stays
Buffett, 96, departed as CEO at the turn of this year and stepped down as chairman on September 18. Lennar is a small position within Berkshire's roughly $300 billion stock portfolio, and the size of the bet suggests investment manager Ted Weschler is behind it rather than Buffett himself, likely with the approval of new CEO Greg Abel.
While Buffett ran Berkshire from 1965 through 2025, the company's stock price rose by 6,100,000%. That far outpaced the S&P 500's 46,000% total return over the same period.
Source: Business Insider
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