Michael Rehaut | Michael Rehaut JPMorgan SECOND TEAM Ivy Zelman Zelman & Associates THIRD TEAM Carl Reichardt Jr. Wachovia RUNNERS-UP David Goldberg UBS ; Daniel Oppenheim Credit Suisse ; Nishu Sood Deutsche |
Vaulting from third to claim his inaugural No. 1 finish, Michael Rehaut of JPMorgan Securities “represents stability after so many others have moved over to hedge funds,” notes one longtime client. In February, Rehaut reiterated his negative stance on the entire sector, informing investors that the previous month’s rally had been fueled by short covering, while fundamentals remained weak. From that call through mid-September, Centex Corp. of Dallas was down 32.8 percent; D.R. Horton of Fort Worth, Texas, was off 14.2 percent; and Lennar Corp. of Miami had fallen 25.3 percent. Overall the sector fell 21.8 percent. Rehaut, 35, earned a bachelor’s degree at New York University’s Stern School of Business in 1995 and worked as a homebuilding analyst at Salomon Smith Barney before joining JPMorgan in 2002. Ivy Zelman, who had topped the ranking for seven of the previous eight years, slips to No. 2. “Whatever data you need, she has it,” says one money manager. The Zelman & Associates analyst managed to find a few buying opportunities in the beleaguered sector, including Bloomfield Hills, Michigan–based Pulte Homes, which she upgraded in June, dubbing the stock a bargain at $10.13. After the share price had soared 29.6 percent, to $13.13, in mid-August, Zelman downgraded the stock to hold, on valuation. In mid-September the stock was trading at $16.45. Carl Reichardt Jr. of Wachovia Securities advances from runner-up to third. “He analyzes the whole industry from every angle,” avers one investor. Reichardt downgraded Universal Forest Products, a lumber distributor headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to sell in July 2007, owing to weakness in residential construction. The stock had tumbled 16.1 percent by mid-September 2008.
