Shares in Ryland Group Inc. gained as much as 7 percent Thursday after Janus Capital Group Inc. doubled its stake in the struggling homebuilder.

Janus, which has been the best-performing publicly traded U.S. fund so far this year, now holds 4.4 million shares, or just more than 10 percent, of Calabasas-based Ryland.

As the subprime slide has deepened, home sales have continued to slide as access to credit has tightened. Ryland has reported nearly $77 million in losses the past two quarters sending shares down more than 60 percent over that period.

However, because it operates in 28 states and has a policy of not having more than 10 percent of its assets in one market, many analysts see a rebound as inevitable.

“We do not pretend that any near-term relief in industry fundamentals is in sight. However, it bears repeating that the home-building stocks have an established history of rallying well before industry fears have finished transitioning into fact,” analyst Stephen Kim wrote in a note to investors earlier this month.

Shares in Ryland were up 6 percent, or $1.54, to $27.05 in afternoon trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.