CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI) has a market capitalization of $4.75bn and has been a favorite of Icahn’s for quite awhile; the investor owns over 80% of the fuel refiner and marketer. His plans were to originally take the company private, but he abandoned that idea last August. An appropriate consolation for him might come in the form of the 120% price appreciation the shares have accumulated since this time last year. CVR takes up a 27% chunk of Icahn’s portfolio. The company recently declared a special dividend of $5.50 a share in January and will issue a new quarterly dividend in Q2 2013 as well, giving CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI) an annual yield of 5.5%. Billionaire Jim Simon’s 676,000 shares seems tiny next to Icahn’s position (check out his favorite stocks here).
Icahn’s holdings in the The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN) total to nearly $400mm, which equals slightly over 3% of his $12.9bn portfolio. The health foods manufacturer owns brands like Soy Dream, Almond Dream, and Terra. The stock continues its trend of beating earnings every quarter, repeating the feat once again in February with a 4.3% beat over analyst’s predictions. However, revenue came in under expectations, resulting in a 4.4% drop in share price after the announcement. The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN) started 2013 with an upgrade to Outperform by BMO Capital, citing the company’s agile position to profit from health food trends. Billionaire Israel Englander of Millennium Management owns over 200,000 shares (view his fund’s major positions here).
Mentor Graphics Corp (NASDAQ:MENT) takes up slightly more than 2% of Icahn’s AUM, which works out to a market value of $274mm as of the time of the fund’s filing. Mentor’s return since this time last year is almost equivalent to the market’s, and the beta of 1.1 supports the high correlation. The company supplies electronic design automation tools and is the best of breed in its industry, benefitting from the most diversified customer base. MENT has over 20% to go in order to meet Wall Street’s valuations a year from now. Ken Fisher’s investment in Mentor Graphics Corp (NASDAQ:MENT) tops $29mm (read about his other holdings here).
Which other small-cap bets has Icahn made?
Navistar International Corp (NYSE:NAV) claims 2% of his assets, receiving an allotment of over $250mm from the fund. The commercial, recreational, and military vehicle manufacturer struggled through 2012, delivering negative double-digit returns. However, a recent earnings beat at the beginning of this month brought on an upgrade to Overweight by JP Morgan (despite net profit still being in the red, similar to past quarters). The beat and the bulge bracket bank’s $45 price target sent shares soaring; the stock has exploded over 40% since then. Billionaire Mario Gabelli of GAMCO Investors owns nearly $100mm worth of NAV (take a look at his fund’s top stocks here).
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) is a $1.3bn interactive entertainment and video game developer that occupies a 1% spot in Icahn’s portfolio. TTWO is pairing with NAV to ensure Icahn has a great start to 2013; the stock is up over 40% since the turn of the year. TTWO delivered an earnings beat at the start of February that included an authorization for a 7.5mm share buyback (equivalent to over 8% of the float). The stock could climb higher as more details and an eventual launch of the Playstation 4 materialize. Billionaire Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital Management has a debt investment in TTWO (see his fund’s positions here).
Disclosure: I do not own shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.
