Crispin Odey’s Top Stocks In The Surging Homebuilder Sector

Another noteworthy move made by Odey Asset Management is the sell-off of 1.53 million shares of Lennar Corp. (NYSE:LEN), with Odey hanging onto 1.57 million shares worth $81.19 million at the end of the most recent quarter. Housing stocks rallied this Friday and Lennar Corp. (NYSE:LEN) wa no different. The stock has risen by over 8% since the beginning of the current year and might keep rising amid the recovery in the U.S. housing market. Lennar is supposed to report the financial results for the fiscal second quarter of 2015 on June 24 and analysts believe that the company will deliver strong financials for the quarter. There are a number of factors, including increasing consumer confidence, affordable interest rates, rising rentals, and a limited supply of inventory, that will lead to solid demand trends in the industry. All of these factors will unquestionably drive up Lennar’s earnings and revenues for the second quarter of 2015. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group is another hedge fund that is bullish on the homebuilding industry and on Lennar Corp. (NYSE:LEN) in particular. The hedge fund firm owns roughly 5.39 million shares valued at $279.18 million.

Finally, Odey Asset Management reported selling 9,002 shares of Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE:RYL), ending the quarter with 1.31 million shares valued at $63.63 million. The shares of Ryland have increased by slightly more than 19% year-to-date in spite of a substantial slump experienced at the end of April. On June 15, Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE:SPF) and Ryland Group announced their agreement to merge, which is anticipated to lead to the formation of the fourth-largest homebuilder in the United States. The officials of the two companies claim the deal is aimed at increasing their market penetration and making the most of the different areas of specialization of the two companies. Moreover, some analysts reckon that the merger suggests confidence that the housing market would be strong in the upcoming years, therefore, it shouldn’t be a surprise if the shares of Ryland continue to ride the company’s recent strong uptrend. From the pool of over 700 hedge funds that we track, Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management is the largest shareholder in Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE:RYL), owning 3.77 million shares valued at $183.86 million.

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