But what if I told you this group shrunk its share count dramatically since 2019? The numbers tell the story: Lennar now has 276 million shares outstanding, down from 318 million five years ago. Other than Toll, most of the homebuilder management teams do not emphasize this fundamental change in share count. Management has been buying hand over fist since 2019, shrinking the share count to 215 million from 264 million. My rather unassailable conclusion is pretty simple: Check the share count before you buy a stock.

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