Crispin Odey Increases Holding of The Ryland Group, Inc. (RYL) Shares

Crispin Odey is optimistic about the prospects of The Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE:RYL). According to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, his fund, Odey Asset Management has increased its holding of the stock by some 306,600 shares. As a result Odey currently holds 4.73 million shares, which represent approximately 10.17% of the company’s common stock. Given the current market price, Odey’s stake is worth more than $202 million.

Ken Griffin, the billionaire manager of Citadel Investment, is also betting on this stock. During the previous quarter, Citadel has increased its holding of The Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE:RYL) by 204%  to 1.8 million shares reportedly worth $78.4 million. Donald Chiboucis is not so optimistic, though. During the same period, his fund, Columbus Circle Investors, has sold a third of its holding of Ryland shares and currently owns 1.22 million shares, worth approximately $53 million.

The Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE:RYL) is homebuilders and a mortgage-finance company. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion and pays an annual dividend of $0.12, which represents a yield 0.30%. The stock is traded at a trailing Price to Earnings (P/E) ratio of 6.35, below the industry average of 10.60. For the fourth quarter of 2013, the company posted revenues of $697 million and earnings per share (EPS) of $1.27, exceeding market expectations. Analysts expect Ryland Group to register revenues of $472 million and earnings of $0.47 per diluted share.

Crispin Odey is also betting big on Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG). According to its latest 13F report, Odey Asset Management has increased its stake by 213% to 203,700 shares during the fourth quarter of 2013. Odey has also increased his fund’s investment in PACCAR Inc(NASDAQ:PCAR), a provider of services to truck management companies. Odey Asset Management owns 2.8 million shares valued at about $166 million.

Disclosure: none.

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