At the end of the first quarter, OZ Management LP held a total of 22.32 million shares of Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA (ADR) (NYSE:PBR) worth $135.91 million. The stock was a new purchase of the fund during the quarter. The company is a semi-public Brazilian energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA (ADR) (NYSE:PBR) has been caught in a very public, multi-billion dollar corruption scandal and has been subject to investigations by Brazilian anti-corruption institutions. The stock lost over 40% over the past year as a result of the scandal. The company posted earnings per share of $0.36 for the first quarter, easily beating analysts’ forecast of $0.14. As a result of the corruptions allegations, however, the company recently backtracked on its plan to pay a dividend this year as a result of the $16.7 billion write-down that it recently incorporated. In 2014 it paid an annual dividend of $0.47 for a yield of over 5% based on the current price of shares. However, the company is expected to begin paying out a dividend again come 2016. A total of six billionaires were invested in the stock at the end of the quarter, accounting for $348.99 million in investment compared to nine billionaires with an aggregate investment of $312.17 million at the end of 2014. A few of these billionaire hedge funds are Rob Citrone‘s Discovery Capital Management, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management, and Howard Marks‘ Oaktree Capital Management.
OZ Management held a total of 7.85 million shares of Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB) with a value of $397.33 million at the end of the first quarter indicating a decrease of 1.97 million shares from the previous reporting period. In an effort to expand its services in North America, the energy company is planning to construct a gas pipeline through northeast Pennsylvania. It recently faced a slight setback however, when one of its natural gas pipelines ruptured in the area, compelling over 100 residents to evacuate. While this didn’t cause any injuries, the fact that the new project is still under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission might bring more questions. Zacks believes that the security presents a great investment opportunity based on the fact that it’s operating in a solid sector and has been receiving positive earnings revisions from analysts. Over the past month alone, the stock’s earnings estimate has increased from $0.23 per share to $0.28. Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB), named by FORTUNE as the most admired energy company of 2015, is set to pay a $0.59 cash dividend to holders who purchased shares before the June 10 ex-dividend date. The announced quarterly dividend represents an increase of 1.72% over the previous quarter, and provides a yield of 5.01%. The stock, which is part of the Public Utilities sector, posted earnings per share of $0.16, beating analysts’ consensus estimate by $0.01. This figure is lower than the $0.28 that it reported in the respective quarter last year however. For the current fiscal year, Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB) is expected to post earnings per share of $0.99. A total of 60 hedge funds out of the 730 actively reporting funds that we track were invested in the stock as of March 31, with eight of them being billionaires. The billionaires accounted for $1.29 billion of investment. Some of these billionaire hedge funds are Stephen Mandel‘s Lone Pine Capital and D. E. Shaw, founded by D.E Shaw.
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