Citadel Advisors Increases Stakes in Rice Energy and Spansion Inc.

On June 17, Citadel Advisors, managed by Ken Griffin, filed two Schedule 13G Forms at the S.E.C., declaring that it had increased its exposure to Rice Energy Inc (NYSE:RICE) and Spansion Inc. (NYSE:CODE).

Rice Energy is a $4 billion market cap independent natural gas and oil company (which IPOed at the beginning of 2014) engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of natural gas and oil properties in the Appalachian Basin. Citadel Advisors declared today a 45% increase in its position at the company. The fund now owns more than 7 million shares, which account for 5.5% of the company’s stock.

In addition to Mr. Griffin’s bet, other hedge funds seem bullish about Rice Energy Inc (NYSE:RICE). For instance, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management last declared holding over 2.74 million shares of the company, worth roughly $72 million by the end of Q1 2014.

Spansion Inc., the second stock which got a vote of confidence from Ken Griffin, is a $1.33 billion market cap semiconductor device company, dedicated to the design, manufacturing and development of embedded systems semiconductors, which include flash memory, microcontroller, mixed-signal and analog products, and embedded system-on-chip solutions. Citadel Advisors upped its stake in the company by 45%, to 3.44 million shares. This position accounts for 5.7% of the company’s stock, and is worth more than $75 million, at the current stock price.

Another hedge fund that recently upped its bets on Spansion Inc. is George Soros’ Soros Fund Management, which had started a position in the company over Q1. On early May, Soros’ fund declared having increased its stake from 2.86 million shares to 3.06 million shares. This makes it the third largest hedge fund shareholder (amongst those we track) at the company, only trailing Griffin’s Citadel, and Charles De Vaulx’s International Value Advisers, which owns about 5.7 million shares of the company, worth more than $125 million at current stock prices (Spansion’s stock is up 24% since the end of Q1).

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position in any stocks mentioned