#4 Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)
– Shares Owned by Omega Advisors (as of December 31): 2.98 Million
– Value of Omega’s Holding (as of December 31): $154.31 Million
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) was Mr. Cooperman’s tenth-largest equity position at the end of December 2015, being valued at $154.31 million. Omega Advisors cut the stake in Citigroup by a mere 50,100 shares during the October-December period, ending the year with 2.98 million shares. The renowned money manager went long the stock during the first quarter of 2012. The fourth-largest U.S. bank has seen its shares decline by 19% in the past 52 weeks and they are currently priced around 7.4-times expected earnings, significantly below the forward P/E ratio of 13.0 for the Financial sector. Citigroup’s stock underperformance and cheap valuation are mainly attributable to the bank’s relatively high exposure to the energy industry as compared to other industry peers, and high exposure to Europe. Just recently, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) argued that Citigroup should consider a breakup, saying that “One of the primary benefits of becoming smaller is escaping the vise that is the current regulatory environment”. The possible break-up involves selling the international consumer businesses, excluding Mexico, selling the Mexico franchise, and separating the remaining company’s U.S. consumer business and global corporate bank. The aforementioned break-up plan could yield an approximate market value of $198 billion, which represents an upside of 61% from the current market value. Boykin Curry’s Eagle Capital Management upped its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 4% during the December quarter to 25.26 million shares.
Follow Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C)
Follow Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C)
#3 HRG Group Inc. (NYSE:HRG)
– Shares Owned by Omega Advisors (as of December 31): 12.16 Million
– Value of Omega’s Holding (as of December 31): $164.85 Million
The New York City-based hedge fund owns 12.16 million shares of HRG Group Inc. (NYSE:HRG) as of the end of the final quarter of 2015, down 202,900 shares quarter-on-quarter. The 12.16 million-share position was worth $164.85 million at the end of 2015. Omega Advisors went bullish on HRG during the final quarter of 2012, an investment that has also turned out to be a successful bet. HRG Group is a diversified holding company that owns businesses in four segments, which involve: branded consumer products and related businesses; insurance and reinsurance services; financing and asset management services; and oil and natural gas properties. The company’s revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2016, ended December 31, totaled $1.23 billion, increasing $84.4 million or 7.4% year-on-year. The increase in the company’s top-line figure was mainly driven by growth from acquisitions and organic sales in its Consumer Products segment, which were mainly offset by foreign currency headwinds and lower sales in the Energy segment due to lower oil and natural gas prices. The company’s net consumer product sales for the quarter increased by 14.1% year-on-year to $1.22 billion, mainly due to a number of acquisitions and higher sales of pet supplies, consumer batteries, home and garden control products, and other products. HRG’s shares have advanced 10% in the past 12 months, after gaining slightly more than 1% year-to-date. Jason Karp’s Tourbillon Capital Partners owns 9.53 million shares of HRG Group Inc. (NYSE:HRG) as of December 31.
