According to a separate 13D filing, Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors currently owns 8.52 million shares of Par Pacific Holdings Inc. (NYSEMKT:PARR), representing 20.4% of the company’s shares. Two freshly-filed Form 4 filings disclose that Whitebox Advisors sold 337,671 shares of the company over the past 60 days. The diversified energy company has seen its shares gain 39% thus far in 2015, thanks to its solid execution and falling crude oil prices. Par Pacific Holdings Inc. (NYSEMKT:PARR) primarily operates in four segments: refining and distribution; retail; natural gas and oil production; and commodity marketing and logistics. The company reported gross margin (i.e. revenue less cost of revenue) of $90.35 million for the third quarter, which was up from $23.85 million reported for the same quarter of last year. Par Pacific’s strong performing in the refining and distribution segment stands behind this exceptional growth, which resulted from enhanced crack spreads and decreased production costs due to lower crude oil prices. In fact, refining and distribution gross margin increased to $72.46 million from $10.41 million year-over-year, and accounted for roughly 80% of the company’s third quarter gross margin.
The number of smart money investors tracked by Insider Monkey with positions in the company decreased to 11 from 12 during the September quarter, while the value of their positions grew to $219.79 million from $184.21 million nonetheless. These investors held 28.40% of the company’s outstanding shares at the end of September. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management upped its stake in Par Pacific Holdings Inc. (NYSEMKT:PARR) by 263,657 shares during the third quarter to 836,280 shares.
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As stated by a third 13D filing, Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital owns 2.35 million shares of Forestar Group Inc. (NYSE:FOR), accounting for 6.99% of its outstanding stock. This denotes an increase of 383,382 shares from the position revealed in the fund’s initial 13D on the company, which was filed at the beginning of November. Forestar Group operates as a real estate, and oil and gas company, so it is no wonder why its shares are 26% in the red year-to-date. The more restrictive mortgage lending environment and the slowing global economy have hindered the recovery of the housing market, even though the low interest rate environment was expected to enact a much quicker recovery. Forestar Group Inc. (NYSE:FOR)’s oil and gas business has been impacted by the low natural gas prices. In fact, the company’s oil and gas production revenue for the first nine months of the year declined substantially year-over-year, in spite of an increase in production volumes, mainly due to low oil and gas prices.
Forestar Group lost some of its appeal among the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey during the third quarter, with the number of top money investors with stakes in the company declining to eight from 13 quarter-over-quarter. These investors owned 15.30% of the company’s shares on September 30, while the value of their stakes shrank to $67.47 million from $78.11 million quarter-over-quarter. Jeffrey Bronchick’s Cove Street Capital holds a 2.60 million-share position in Forestar Group Inc. (NYSE:FOR) as of September 30.
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