- Berkshire Hathaway has continued buying Lennar shares, but its latest purchases were smaller than the previous buying spree, taking its stake above 11%.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A, NYSE: BRK.B) added more shares of Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) through Sept. 30, although the pace of purchases slowed from the previous week. The latest SEC filing shows Berkshire-related entities purchased 638,813 Class A Lennar shares on Sept. 30 at an average price of $81.59. The group also bought 5,200 Class A shares on Sept. 28 and 12,289 on Sept. 29.
Berkshire purchased another 4,108 Class B shares during the period. After the transactions, its reported holdings stood at 26,034,436 Class A shares and 553,000 Class B shares. The purchases lifted Berkshire's economic interest in the homebuilder to roughly 11%, based on the company's outstanding shares. CNBC reported that the latest buying was slower than the previous period, when Berkshire acquired more than 1.6 million Class A shares and more than 20,000 Class B shares.
The transactions are being disclosed more quickly because Berkshire crossed the 10% ownership threshold in September. That status requires additional purchases to be reported within two business days.
Berkshire Builds Lennar Position as Housing Market Weakens
The latest purchases extend a buying campaign that has substantially increased Berkshire's exposure to the homebuilding industry. Berkshire's Sept. 25 SEC filing showed the company had accumulated 25,395,623 Class A Lennar shares by Sept. 25, alongside 548,992 Class B shares. The latest filing therefore adds roughly 639,000 Class A shares to the position in a single day.
At the end of June, Berkshire held about 13.4 million Lennar shares, according to regulatory filings cited by Barron's. The position has therefore nearly doubled since the second quarter. The buying comes while Lennar shares have struggled. Lennar's Class A stock closed at $79.81 on Oct. 2, down 2.8% for the session, according to MarketWatch.
The weakness reflects broader pressure on the US housing market. Mortgage rates have remained elevated, limiting affordability for potential buyers and putting pressure on homebuilders' sales volumes and margins.
The average US 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 7.03% for the week ended Sept. 24, according to Freddie Mac data reported in recent mortgage-market coverage. Higher financing costs have kept many prospective buyers on the sidelines even as home prices remain elevated.
Lennar's recent results reflect those conditions. The company reported third-quarter net income of $284 million, down from $591 million a year earlier, while new orders declined 9%. It also reduced its full-year 2026 delivery outlook to between 80,000 and 81,000 homes.
Those pressures have weighed on the stock's valuation. Lennar has been trading below its book value, a factor that has drawn attention from value-focused investors.
What Berkshire's Lennar Buying Means for Investors
Berkshire's purchases give investors another indication of where the conglomerate is deploying capital under CEO Greg Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett as chief executive earlier this year. The transactions do not establish that Berkshire intends to acquire Lennar outright. Berkshire has not publicly stated that it plans to make a takeover offer for the homebuilder.
The purchases do, however, give Berkshire a sizeable position in a company exposed directly to the housing cycle. Berkshire already has substantial housing-related operations through Clayton Homes and expanded its homebuilding exposure through its $8.5 billion acquisition of Taylor Morrison announced earlier this year.
The Lennar investment also comes after a period of major change at Berkshire. Warren Buffett stepped down as chairman in September and became chairman emeritus, while Howard G. Buffett became chairman of the board. Greg Abel remains responsible for Berkshire's day-to-day operations, as outlined in the company's leadership transition.
For Lennar, the near-term challenge remains housing affordability. Mortgage rates above 7% have continued to pressure demand, while builders have increasingly relied on incentives and pricing adjustments to attract buyers.
That backdrop makes the company's performance particularly sensitive to changes in borrowing costs. A sustained decline in mortgage rates could improve affordability and housing demand, while rates remaining elevated could continue to weigh on sales.
Berkshire's purchases therefore arrive at a difficult point in the housing cycle. The company is increasing its stake while Lennar's earnings and shares remain under pressure, but the regulatory filings do not explain Berkshire's investment rationale.
For now, the filings establish one clear fact: Berkshire continues to buy Lennar, and its stake has grown to more than 11% even as the pace of purchases has moderated from the previous week.