Frederick Disanto’s Ancora Advisors is a Cleveland-based boutique investment firm that provides asset management, family wealth, and retirement planning services to its clients. DiSanto has served as Ancora’s CEO since 2006 and leads the firm’s three Registered Investment Advisors. Ancora had $3.1 billion in assets under management as of June 24, 2020.

Ancora Advisors runs a number of different equity strategies, including ones focused on micro-caps, small-caps, mid-caps, and dividend value stocks. Ancora invests prominently in finance stocks, which have traditionally comprised between 30% and 40% of the value of its 13F portfolio over the past decade. Its Ancora Catalyst Institutional LP fund, which was launched in September 2014, delivered annual average returns of 7.87% between 2015 and 2017.

Fred DiSanto of Ancora Advisors

Stocks Ancora Advisors Bought in Q2

Bunge Limited (NYSE:BG)

– Shares Bought During Q2: 35,834
– Value of Holding (as of June 30): $1.47 million

– Q3 Return (through September 17): 15.07%

Ancora bought just under 36,000 shares of Bunge during Q2 and has been rewarded with 15% gains from those shares thus far in Q3. Bunge is better positioned after reoptimizing its portfolio over the past 18 months, with the company predicting $5+ EPS in 2021. With the stock sitting well below its historical valuation, some major insiders have been buying up shares this year, including Bunge’s CEO and CFO. 37 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey’s database were long BG as of June 30.

Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (NYSE:MSGE)

– Shares Bought During Q2: 66,050
– Value of Holding (as of June 30): $4.95 million

– Q3 Return (through September 17): 0.44%

Ancora picked up 66,050 shares of MSGE in Q2 after it was spun off from Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (NYSE:MSGS) in April. It’s been a lost half a year for MSGE, as COVID-19 has kept the company’s venues closed since mid-March. The good news for MSGE investors like Ancora is that the company is well positioned to weather the storm, with $1.2 billion in cash and short-term investments alongside just $33.8 million in debt.

Raytheon Technologies Corporation (NYSE:RTX)

– Shares Bought During Q2: 78,240
– Value of Holding (as of June 30): $4.82 million

– Q3 Return (through September 17): 1.93%

Ancora took a position in Raytheon in Q2, capitalizing on the aerospace manufacturer’s stock falling from the sky during Q1. Raytheon recently announced that it will cut its workforce by 15,000 in the wake of the ongoing airline slowdown, nearly double the amount it suggested back in July. On a positive note, the company’s defense segment continues to perform well and was just awarded a $317 million modification to an existing Navy contract.

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)

– Shares Bought During Q2: 466,295
– Value of Holding (as of June 30): $11.48 million

– Q3 Return (through September 17): 42.73%

Ancora’s largest new holding added in Q2 was Darling Ingredients and the position has paid immediate dividends for the fund, surging by 43% since June 30. Darling’s feed segment had its best quarterly EBITDA results in over three years during Q2 at just over $85 million, while company-wide revenue and earnings both beat estimates. Ancora isn’t the only fund paying close attention to what Darling Ingredients is cooking up, as hedge funds were pouring into DAR in Q1.

Stocks Ancora Advisors Sold in Q2

Dropbox, Inc. (NASDAQ:DBX)

– Shares Sold During Q2: 276,625
– Value of Holding (as of June 30): –

– Q3 Return (through September 17): -10.43%

Ancora sold out of its Dropbox stake during Q2 after opening the position in Q4 of 2019, locking in its profits from the holding after the cloud services provider’s big run-up between March and June. The timing again looks good for Ancora, as Dropbox has slid by 10% since the end of June. The company ended the first-half of 2020 with 15 million subscribers and expects gross margins to rise by 2 percentage points year-over-year in FY20.

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Video: Top 5 Stocks Among Hedge Funds

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