Carl Icahn Buys More Herbalife (HLF), Hertz (HTZ), Unloads Energy Stocks

Herc Holdings Inc (NYSE:HRI)

– Shares Held By Icahn Capital LP (as of September 30): 4.31 Million

– Value of the Holding (as of September 30): $145.34 Million

Icahn Capital boosted its stake in Herc Holdings Inc (NYSE:HRI) by 200% during the third quarter, which helped the position jump three spots in the fund’s portfolio to become its 15th-largest holding, in terms of value, at the end of September. Herc Holdings Inc (NYSE:HRI) became an independent publicly-traded entity earlier this year after Hertz Global Holdings decided to separate its equipment rental business via a spin-off. Since the spin-off was completed, Herc Holdings’s stock has appreciated by 16.5%. For its fiscal 2016 third quarter, Herc Holdings reported EPS of $0.11 on revenue of $403.6 million, compared to the EPS $0.69 on revenue of $431.8 million that it had reported for the same quarter of its previous fiscal year.

Hertz Global Holdings, Inc (NYSE:HTZ)

– Shares Held By Icahn Capital LP (as of September 30): 12.94 Million

– Value of the Holding (as of September 30): $519.61 Million

Hertz Global Holdings, Inc (NYSE:HTZ) is one of the stocks in which Icahn Capital seems to have burnt its fingers badly. During the second quarter, the fund lowered its stake in Hertz Global Holdings, Inc (NYSE:HTZ) by 79%. However, it again boosted its holding in the company by 200% during the July-to-September period. Since then, Hertz Global’s stock has tanked by more than 35%, with most of those losses coming in after the company reported terrible numbers for its third quarter on November 7 and issued soft guidance. On November 15, analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to ‘Equal Weight’ from ‘Overweight’ and also reduced their price target on it to $30 from $57, which suggests potential upside of 15%.

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)

– Shares Held By Icahn Capital LP (as of September 30): 19.61 Million

– Value of the Holding (as of September 30): $1.21 Billion

Although Icahn Capital increased its stake in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) by only 15% during the third quarter, a recent regulatory filing submitted by the fund shows that it now owns 21.44 million Herbalife shares, or 23.05% of the company’s float. Furthermore, Mr. Icahn has already revealed that he has received permission to acquire up to 50% of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)’s outstanding stock. Herbalife has been in the news constantly over the past couple of years because of the divergent views that two billionaires – Mr. Icahn and Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman – have on it. While Mr. Ackman has been pretty vocal about his dislike for the company’s practices and is still holding on to his massive short position, Mr. Icahn has become increasingly bullish on Herbalife over the past few months, to the extent that he recently said at the Reuters Global Investment Outlook Summit, that the company is undervalued and that “It is going to create a lot of jobs.”

Disclosure: None