Irvine-based Standard Pacific Corp. saw its shares close up 11% Monday after a Wall Street analyst upgraded its stock and suggested the company could buy assets of other homebuilders.
The company now counts a market value of about $155 million.
UBS AG analyst David Goldberg upgraded Standard Pacific to “buy,” saying the company’s $530 million investment earlier this year from private equity firm MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC should provide it ample liquidity to ride out the housing slump.
Goldberg also wrote in a report that Standard Pacific could use funding from New York-based MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC, its largest shareholder, to buy distressed assets from other homebuilders.
Last week, Standard Pacific said it was in early acquisition talks with TOUSA Inc., a bankrupt builder based in Florida.
Also on Monday, Fitch Ratings affirmed the rating of Standard Pacific and four other national builders, while cutting its ratings on nine builders.
