Wall Street bullish on housing supply companies

Investors are picking up shares in companies that specialize in appliances, building materials, and even pickup trucks in betting on a widening housing recovery, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Investors say that the increase in residential construction and home renovation represents a big opportunity on Wall Street.

The recovery is in “the very early innings,” Russell Croft, a portfolio manager at Croft Leominster Inc., told The Wall Street Journal. “I’m trying to find the secondary or tertiary stocks that might be influenced by housing.”

Following a run-up in shares of homebuilder stocks – like Lennar, KB Home, and Toll Brothers – investors are now diversifying, looking at such companies like appliance maker Whirlpool (which has surged more than 170 percent since the end of 2011) and Ford Motor Co. for pickup trucks.

Investors are looking for anything housing-related, including companies that manufacture related items from roofing and floorboards to drywall and faucets.
Home improvement retailers Lowe’s and Home Depot have each soared nearly 60 percent over the past 12 months.

With home prices still well below their 2006 peak, investors are seeing plenty of opportunity ahead for the housing market.

“The housing market is one of the best investible themes out there for 2013 and for 2014 as well,” said analyst Kevin O’Keefe with Brown Advisory, which oversees $33 billion in assets.