New Home Consultant

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) sets new 12-month low - Here's what happened. October 6, 2026 Key points. * Lennar shares fell to a new 52-week low of $73.75, pressured by housing-market challenges, including high mortgage rates, weak affordability, declining home prices and shrinking margins. * The company's latest quarterly results missed expectations, with EPS of $1.23 versus $1.29 expected and revenue down 8.7% year over year to $8.05 billion. Analysts maintain a predominantly negative view, with a consensus "Reduce" rating and a $79.86 target price. * Berkshire Hathaway increased its Lennar stake by more than 2.4 million shares in early October, investing approximately $193 million. However, investor-law-firm investigations and recent negative coverage continue to add uncertainty and selling pressure. * Five stocks we like better than Lennar. Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $73.75 and last traded at $74.3080, with a volume of 10653331 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $79.81. Key stories impacting Lennar. Here are the key news stories impacting Lennar this week: * Berkshire Hathaway increased its Lennar position. Berkshire purchased 710,542 shares on October 1 and another 1,708,095 shares on October 2, investing roughly $193 million across the two disclosed transactions. Its holdings rose to 28.44 million shares, reinforcing Warren Buffett's confidence in the homebuilder and providing potential support for the stock. * Long-term housing investment thesis remains intact. Reports highlighted that Berkshire is building a significant housing-related portfolio despite industry weakness, suggesting it views Lennar's valuation and long-term housing demand favorably. * Investor-law firms announced investigations. Block & Leviton is examining potential securities-law violations involving Lennar, while Julie & Holleman is investigating alleged misconduct related to transactions between Lennar and Millrose Properties. These announcements are not findings of wrongdoing but may add uncertainty and headline risk. * Fundamental and housing-market pressures remain significant. High mortgage rates, weaker affordability, declining home prices and sharp gross-margin compression are weighing on Lennar's outlook. The company's latest quarterly results also missed analyst expectations, with earnings per share of $1.23 versus a $1.29 consensus and revenue down 8.7% year over year. * Recent negative coverage intensified selling pressure. Lennar's shares fell sharply after publication of a report questioning the company, adding to concerns about earnings performance and the broader housing downturn. Analyst ratings changes. LEN has been the topic of several research reports. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Lennar in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Lennar in a research report on Thursday. They set an "underweight" rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a report on Friday, September 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Lennar from $85.00 to $75.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lennar from $107.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and ten have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lennar currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $79.86. Discover more MarketBeat Pro subscription Stock research tools All Access membership Lennar stock performance. The stock has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 4.94 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock's 50-day moving average is $83.52 and its 200-day moving average is $86.85. Lennar (NYSE:LEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 16th. The construction company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). Lennar had a net margin of 4.09% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Lennar Corporation will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year. Lennar announces dividend. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 7th. Lennar's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.81%. Insider transactions at Lennar. In other Lennar news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 1,708,095 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $79.44 per share, with a total value of $135,691,066.80. Following the purchase, the insider owned 28,438,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,118,294.80. This represents a 6.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 7,502,276 shares of company stock valued at $595,303,287. 10.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional inflows and outflows. Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LEN. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Lennar by 19.7% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,546,970 shares of the construction company's stock worth $221,176,000 after purchasing an additional 419,745 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 90.9% in the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 1,963,373 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $201,835,000 after purchasing an additional 934,856 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Lennar by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 601,468 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $52,231,000 after buying an additional 27,500 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 461,696 shares of the construction company's stock worth $47,462,000 after buying an additional 43,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Lennar by 6,292.5% in the second quarter. Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. now owns 328,000 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $29,681,000 after acquiring an additional 322,869 shares during the last quarter. 81.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Lennar. Lennar Corporation NYSE: LEN is a homebuilding company that designs, constructs and sells single-family homes and, through its multifamily operations, develops apartment communities. Its residential offerings generally include homes across a range of sizes and prices, serving first-time, move-up and active-adult buyers. The company also provides related services through businesses involved in mortgage financing, title and closing services, insurance and other real estate activities. Lennar develops residential communities and manages land acquisition, planning and construction as part of its integrated homebuilding model. Founded in 1954, Lennar has expanded from its origins in South Florida into a national homebuilder serving numerous markets across the United States. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. Before you consider Lennar, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Lennar wasn't on the list. While Lennar currently has a Reduce rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. Tesla, Nvidia, and Google helped shape the last era of market growth, but the next wave could come from a new group of companies. Inside this report, you'll find 7 stocks that could play a major role in the next tech-driven market boom. Continue following MarketBeat

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) cut build costs, but margins lagged. What happened. Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) delivered weaker third-quarter fiscal 2026 results as softer housing demand reduced deliveries and construction savings failed to restore margins. Net earnings fell to $284 million, or $1.19 per diluted share, from $591 million, or $2.29 per share, a year earlier. Home deliveries fell 3%. The company still cut construction cost per square foot by 1% sequentially and 6% year over year. That progress did not produce the margin recovery implied by June guidance. Why it matters. Home-sales gross margin was 15.8%, down from 17.5% a year earlier. Subtracting a 9.2% SG&A ratio produced a 6.6% home-sales net margin. That was about 20 basis points above fiscal Q2, when 15.6% gross margin less 9.2% SG&A yielded 6.4%. It was well below fiscal Q3 2025, when 17.5% less 8.2% yielded 9.3%. June guidance had pointed to about 16.0% gross margin and 8.8% to 9.0% SG&A. Those inputs implied roughly 7.0% to 7.2% home-sales net margin, an editor calculation, so the reported 6.6% missed the expected recovery. Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) said lower revenue per square foot and higher land costs pressured gross margin. Lower construction costs partly offset those headwinds. The SG&A pressure had a separate cause. Lower revenue reduced operating leverage, while marketing and selling expenses rose. The average delivered-home price fell 3% to $372,000 and reflected roughly 12% incentives. The numbers show why cheaper construction was not enough. Land and pricing pressure absorbed part of the savings, while selling costs claimed a larger share of lower revenue. What's next. Fiscal Q4 is the next test. Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) expects 15.5% to 16.0% home-sales gross margin and 8.7% to 9.0% SG&A. Construction efficiency is improving, and cycle time reached 116 days. Investors still need better price realization and tighter selling costs before the savings can restore home-sales profitability. The risk is that elevated mortgage rates and incentives remain necessary to sustain volume. That would keep revenue per square foot under pressure and delay the margin recovery. Sources. * Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) fiscal Q3 2026 results - September 16 results for the quarter ended August 31: earnings, deliveries, average price, incentives, construction costs, margin bridge, Q4 outlook and company identity. * Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) fiscal Q2 2026 results and June outlook - June 11 results and fiscal Q3 outlook: approximately 16.0% gross margin and 8.8% to 9.0% SG&A. * Photo: Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) headquarters by Coolcaesar - File photograph of Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) headquarters in Fountainbleau, Florida, taken January 19, 2008. It does not depict the fiscal Q3 2026 results. * Photo license: CC BY-SA 3.0 - Creator credit: Coolcaesar. Original photograph unchanged; responsive article and card display may crop. Photograph and adaptations remain subject to CC BY-SA 3.0. Browse every company OptimistFi covers at optimistfi.com/stocks, or read the latest evidence-first research. The full Lennar Corporation investment case, its status and the next test to watch live on the Lennar Corporation thesis page. Originally published on OptimistFi, evidence-first equity research. More at optimistfi.com.