Last month, we drew attention to the fact that hedge fund JANA Partners had reduced its QEP Resources stake. With a newly filed 13D, Barry Rosenstein's activist firm has disclosed that they no longer own a stake in the company.
The filing was made due to activity on October 13th. Previously, JANA had owned over 12.96 million shares.
Per their latest 13D filing, JANA sold over 2.3 million shares at $22.50 on October 14th, and really ramped up liquidation of the rest of their stake on October 15th at prices ranging from $20.68 to $21.22.
For more on this hedge fund, just yesterday we highlighted some recent buying activity from JANA in another stock.
Per Google Finance, QEP Resources "operates in three lines of business: gas and oil exploration and production, midstream field services, and energy marketing. It conducted through three principal subsidiaries: QEP Energy Company (QEP Energy) acquires, explores for, develops and produces natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids (NGL); QEP Field Services Company (QEP Field Services) provides midstream field services, including natural gas gathering, processing, compression and treating services for affiliates and third parties; andQEP Marketing Company (QEP Marketing) markets affiliate and third-party natural gas and oil, provides risk-management services, and owns and operates an underground gas-storage reservoir."
Thursday, October 16, 2014
JANA Partners Exits QEP Resources
Viking Global Updates Wayfair Stake
Andreas Halvorsen's hedge fund firm Viking Global has filed a 13G with the SEC regarding Wayfair (W). Per the filing, Viking now owns 12.6% of the company with 1,750,236 shares.
It should be noted that Viking also filed a Form 3 regarding Wayfair indicating that they previously owned Class B shares and they were converted into Class A common stock.
Viking acquired 400,000 shares at $29 per share in connection with the company's IPO on October 2nd. Additionally, they acquired 25,000 shares at $36 and 54,250 shares at $35.53 in open market transactions.
You can view other portfolio activity from Viking Global here.
Per Google Finance, Wayfair is "transforming the way people shop for their homes. The Company has created online destinations for the home. Through its e-commerce business model, the Company offers visually inspiring browsing, compelling merchandising, easy product discovery and prices for over seven million products from over 7,000 suppliers across five brands: Wayfair.com, Joss & Main, AllModern, DwellStudio and Birch Lane. The Company’s technology and data focus facilitates critical e-commerce capabilities, such as shopping experiences across its five brands, consumer targeting and personalization, and anytime, anywhere shopping across its Websites, mobile-optimized Websites and mobile applications.The Company offers consumers a one-stop shop with home goods pricing designed to be on par with big box retailers and a merchandising experience designed to be on par with specialty retailers."
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Larry Robbins: Doesn't Believe This is a Change in Tone in the Market
Glenview Capital's Larry Robbins sat down for an interview with CNBC recently and here's what he had to say:
They're looking at what's happening to the economy and to liquidity. They don't think there's a systemic issue out there.
He says, "Our own checks with companies indicate that the economy is doing reasonably well in the US, clearly some challenges overseas. We don't believe that this a change in tone in the market that's likely to be here to stay. We believe that this is a transitory risk problem."
Robbins also pointed to all the good news coming the US consumer's way recently: wages up, price of oil down.
Glenview took down exposure in the second week of September (net exposure) due to the laundry list of risk items. They've started to re-risk about halfway to where they were before, as buying opportunities have presented themselves recently. He argued that certain stock movements have outdone their fundamentals.
He specifically pointed out the rental car industry as being annihilated recently and called it a rational oligopoly as 3 players control 95% market share. He said the Hertz (HTZ) CEO change has happened and likes Avis Budget's (CAR) opportunity ahead. Robbins also said the travel industry has been impacted by the ebola scare, but didn't name any companies specifically.
Embedded below are the videos of Robbins' CNBC interview:
Video 1
Video 2
You can view some of Glenview's portfolio activity here.
JANA Partners Adds to Walgreen Stake
Barry Rosenstein's activist hedge fund JANA Partners has filed a Form 4 with the SEC regarding their stake in Walgreen (WAG). Per the filing, JANA now owns 13.75 million shares of WAG.
They were out buying on October 10th, 13th, and 14th at prices of $62.80, $62.02, and $60.68. They purchased 1.25 million shares in total recently. Rosenstein is also on WAG's board of directors.
Shares of WAG were hit in August after the company announced they'd be completing the Alliance Boots merger but would not be doing a tax inversion, something many investors were hoping for.
You can view additional recent portfolio activity from JANA here.
ValueAct Again Buys Allison Transmission Shares
Jeff Ubben's activist firm ValueAct Capital has filed yet another Form 4 with the SEC regarding their stake in Allison Transmission (ALSN). Per the filing, ValueAct has purchased an additional 200,000 ALSN shares.
They were buying on October 10th at around $27.62 and October 13th around $27.09. In total, their position size is now over 19.05 million shares.
As we've highlighted previously, the most recent issue of our Hedge Fund Wisdom newsletter analyzed ALSN if you want to read up on the bull/bear thesis.
Balyasny Asset Management Boosts Churchill Downs Position
Dmitry Balyasny's firm Balyasny Asset Management has filed a 13G with the SEC regarding their stake in Churchill Downs (CHDN). Per the filing, Balyasny now owns 5.24% of the company with 909,724 shares.
This marks an increase of 285,477 shares in their position size since the end of the second quarter. The filing was required due to activity on October 7th.
Per Google Finance, Churchill Downs is "a diversified provider of pari-mutuel horseracing, casino gaming, entertainment, and is the country’s premier source of online account wagering on horseracing events. The Company offers gaming products through its casino in Mississippi, its slot and video poker operations in Louisiana and its slot and poker operations in Florida."
Eminence Capital Discloses FNFV Group Stake
Per a 13G filed with the SEC, Ricky Sandler's hedge fund firm Eminence Capital has revealed a new position in FNFV Group (FNFV). They now own 6.1% of shares via their 5.55 million share position. The filing was made due to activity on September 30th.
FNFV was spun-off from Fidelity National Financial (FNF) this summer. Each 'old' share of FNF was converted into a new share of FNF and 0.3333 of a share of the newly created FNFV. The latter is a tracking stock, and that's what Eminence has now reported a stake in.
We've also posted other recent portfolio activity from Eminence here.
Per Yahoo Finance, FNFV stands for Fidelity National Financial Ventures and it operates as the investment arm of Fidelity National Financial.
What We're Reading ~ Analytical Links 10/15/14
Berkshire Beyond Buffett: The Enduring Value of Values [Lawrence Cunningham]
On spectrum value and a case for Verizon [Bronte Capital]
Importance of ROIC: A glance at the last 42 years of Wells Fargo [Base Hit Investing]
Building the perfect investor [Millennial Invest]
A look at the potential future for the cable industry [GlennChan]
Pay TV's new worry: 'shaving' the cord [WSJ]
Six figure incomes - and facing financial ruin [WSJ]
T-Mobile's stock slump offers buying opportunity [Yahoo]
On how Buffett's portfolio managers are faring [Fortune]
Why millennials are shunning cars [Washington Post]
The freelance economy and word of mouth [HBR]
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Family Office Book for Free
The Family Offices Group has released a 35-page PDF book on single and multi-family offices which includes 2 free chapters of The Family Office Book: Investing Capital for the Ultra-Affluent (Wiley).
To download this free book, simply visit: http://FamilyOffices.com/Family-Office-Book
You may know our brand from our operation of the #1 most visited family office website, http://FamilyOffices.com or from hearing about us hosting a 3-day Family Office Super Summit on November 11-13 in Miami, featuring more than 50 family office speakers. To learn more visit: http://WilsonConferences.com/Super
Hope you enjoy the book and hopefully we can meet in person at our Family Office Super Summit in Miami,
Richard C. Wilson
CEO & Founder
Family Offices Group
Phone: (212) 729-5067
E-Mail: Clients@FamilyOffices.com
http://FamilyOffices.com
http://WilsonConferences.com/Super
