Hedge Funds Are Crazy About Standard Pacific Corp. (SPF)

What’s a smart Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE:SPF) investor to do?

In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of gauges investors can use to monitor the equity markets. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Equally as crucial, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to analyze the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are lots of stimuli for a corporate insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

Furthermore, we’re going to examine the latest info surrounding Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE:SPF).

What have hedge funds been doing with Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE:SPF)?

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 29 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 53% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

According to our 13F database, Sean Cullinan’s Point State Capital had the largest position in Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE:SPF), worth close to $31.4 million, accounting for 0.5% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by SAC Capital Advisors, managed by Steven Cohen, which held a $27.1 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers with similar optimism include Douglas Dillard Jr. and Raj D. Venkatesan’s Standard Pacific Capital, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the titans, particular hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. OZ Management, managed by Daniel S. Och, established the most outsized position in Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE:SPF). OZ Management had 52.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Sean Cullinan’s Point State Capital also initiated a $31.4 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, Douglas Dillard Jr. and Raj D. Venkatesan’s Standard Pacific Capital, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

How are insiders trading Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE:SPF)?

Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time frame, Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE:SPF) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE:SPF). These stocks are Gafisa SA (ADR) (NYSE:GFA), Meritage Homes Corp (NYSE:MTH), M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC), The Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE:RYL), and KB Home (NYSE:KBH). All of these stocks are in the residential construction industry and their market caps are similar to SPF’s market cap.