A Look at Billionaire Paul Singer’s Long-Term Investments

#3  National Bank Holdings Corp (NYSE:NBHC)

– Shares Owned by Elliott Management (as of June 30): 2.40 million

– Value of Holding (as of June 30): $48.92 million

Moving on, National Bank Holdings Corp (NYSE:NBHC) is another long-term holding of Elliott Management in which the firm reduced its stake during each of the first two quarters of this year, by 10% in the first quarter and by a further 14% in the second quarter. The fund has held a stake in the bank holding company ever since its IPO in the final quarter of 2012, and shares have been trading in a relatively narrow range since then. Shares have surged in August following an investor presentation made by the company on August 5 and the announcement a few days later that it will repurchase $50 million worth of shares. Billionaire Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies upped its stake in the company by 21% to 1.04 million shares during the second quarter.

#2 Companhia de Saneamento Basico (ADR) (NYSE:SBS)

– Shares Owned by Elliott Management (as of June 30): 8.10 million

– Value of Holding (as of June 30): $72.60 million

Elliott Management has been the largest shareholder of Companhia de Saneamento Basico (ADR) (NYSE:SBS) among the funds in our database since it initiated a stake in the company during the fourth quarter of 2013. That has continued through June 30, despite the activist fund cutting its stake in the company by 49% during the second quarter. Shares of the water and sewage services provider have enjoyed an outstanding year, gaining over 102%, which likely prompted Mr. Singer and his team to cash out of half of their holding. After having sharply cut its annual dividend payment for two consecutive years, the stock now provides an annual dividend yield of just 0.71%, down from 3.99% in April 2014. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital initiated a stake of almost 4.00 million shares of the company during the first quarter and added another 1.63 million shares to its holding in the second quarter.

#1 Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES)

– Shares Owned by Elliott Management (as of June 30): 18.80 million

– Value of Holding (as of June 30): $1.13 billion

Elliott Management launched its activist campaign against Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) immediately after initiating a stake in the company during the final quarter of 2012. Although the fund and the company reached a settlement in May 2013, Elliott Management has continued to remain one of the largest shareholders of Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) ever since, with the position ranking as its second-most valuable for each of the past three quarters. Like the shares of most other oil exploration and production companies, Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) shares have benefited greatly from the rally in crude oil prices this year, trading up by 16.85% year-to-date. The stock currently sports an average rating of ‘Hold’ and an average price target of $62.32 from the 21 leading analysts and research firms on Wall Street who track it.

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