Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors disclosed today a 50% increase in its –activist- stake in Boulder Brands Inc (NASDAQ:BDBD). Over the past couples of months, the funds affiliated with Mr. Gabelli (GAMCO, Gabelli Funds, GSI, Teton Advisors, GBL) have been pretty active in the company, constantly buying and selling its stock. Following the reported transactions, the funds own more than 4.51 million shares of Common Stock (of which Mr. Gabelli can be deemed beneficial ownership), which represent roughly 7.4% of the company’s shares outstanding.
GAMCO Investors is an investment advice and brokerage services provider managed by acknowledged investor Mario Gabelli since inception, in 1976. This New York-based firm manages almost $50 billion in assets, and has made itself famous for its market-beating small-cap stock picks. Mario Gabelli is among the billionaire fund managers.
Boulder Brands Inc (NASDAQ:BDBD) is a $759.3 million market cap marketer of functional food products under the Smart Balance, Earth Balance and Bestlife trademarks. Its products are sold in mass merchandise, grocery, natural food, and club stores throughout the U.S. and Canada.
According to the latest Amended Schedule 13D filing, GAMCO Investors (et AL) owns about 4.51 million shares of Common Stock, up from 3 million disclosed by the end of the second quarter of 2014. Moreover, this is not the first bet on natural foods this month. Earlier, the fund had disclosed a new stake in Annies Inc (NYSE:BNNY), a natural and organic food company, after it announced that it would be acquired by General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS), in a deal valued at $820 million, or $46 per share.
Other major institutional investors betting on Boulder Brands Inc (NASDAQ:BDBD) are Phill Gross And Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, which is the largest shareholder, amongst those we track, and Bernard Selz’s Selz Capital. Adage Capital Management declared ownership of 5.75 million shares, worth more than $81 million, by the end of the second quarter of the year, while Selz Capital acknowledged holding 268,000 shares of Common Stock as of September 30, 2014.
You might wonder, why is it important to track Mr. Gabelli’s moves?
GAMCO has managed to beat the S&P 500 by more than 2% per year since inception (almost 40 years ago). Its top stock pick, DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV), is up more than 23% year-to-date, while its largest small-cap stake, placed in Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc (NYSE:RHP), returned about 10.1%, compared to the S&P 500’s 2.95%.
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any stocks or funds mentioned.
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