Jim Cramer on Builders FirstSource: "Can't Go Up if You Don't Have a Good Housing Market"

Builders FirstSource, Inc. (NYSE:BLDR) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. Cramer mentioned the stock in light of housing market conditions. He commented:

“Right underneath it was another driver of today’s rally, Builders FirstSource. You can rally when you have a housing market. That thing can’t go up if you don’t have a good housing market. Maybe we’re going to have one. And you know what? They have projects in hand. If Builders FirstSource is doing well, maybe mortgage rates really are going to fall.”

Builders FirstSource, Inc. (NYSE:BLDR) manufactures and distributes building materials, prefabricated components, and construction services for residential and commercial builders. Additionally, the company provides design software, professional installation, and custom millwork. Cramer mentioned the stock during the May 20 episode and remarked:

“Hey, by the way, while we’re talking about building materials, can we not forget about Builders FirstSource, which is a major consolidator in what used to be a highly fragmented industry? This stock’s been a huge long-term performer, but it’s peaked early last year, and the stock has been tumbling ever since because it’s tied not too directly to a not-so-hot housing market, and that’s because of interest rates. Unlike the rest of the market, Builders FirstSource didn’t recover much in April. Then, when the company reported on May 1st, the stock went lower still because management lowered their full-year forecast.

They’re just not feeling good about single-family housing market. I don’t blame them. It’s not, it’s stagnant. With things looking so bleak for Builders FirstSource, it caught my attention last week, though, when the company disclosed that its Chairman, Paul Levy, had bought a staggering 500,000 shares in the open market for an aggregate purchase price of $55.5 million. That’s about $111 per share. I gotta tell you, I love to see insider buying, especially when the stock’s been doing badly and the insider’s committing a significant amount of money. Levy’s the founder of JLL Partners, that’s a private equity firm that established Builders FirstSource in the late 90s. So he is been there from the get-go. He knows the business as well as anyone could, and he just increased his stake in the company by 43%.

Now I always tell you that executives sell their stock for all sorts of reasons… but they only buy their own stock in the open market for one reason: because they think it’s going to go higher. So that’s certainly an encouraging thing to see from Mr. Levy at Builders FirstSource. Consider me intrigued.”

It is worth noting that since the above comment was aired, Builders FirstSource, Inc. (NYSE:BLDR) stock has gained almost 12%.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.