Citigroup Inc. (C), Morgan Stanley (MS): Billionaire Louis Bacon’s Key Moves

Anteing up on Sands

Bacon also added 4,800% to its Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) shares owned. This has put the stock as Moore’s 11th largest position. Las Vegas Sands owns and operates the Venetian Casino Resort, the Sands Expo and Convention Center and the Palazzo Resort Hotel in Las Vegas, as well as the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, Sands Macao Casino and Four Seasons Macao in Macau, China. Other initiatives include the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, PA it opened in May 2009, and the development of a casino resort in Singapore.

The casino company managed to post first quarter EPS of $0.71, compared to $0.70 for the same period last year, beating consensus. The beat comes on the back of better Vegas and Singapore performance, while Macau was weak. Yet, gaming revenue growth in Macau is expected to rebound and grow at low-double digits levels for 2013, according to the Macau government statistics. Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) also pay a 2.4% dividend yield.

Adding to Auto Parts

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) saw Bacon up its shares owned 1000%, the stock is now Moore Capital’s 12 largest holding. This retailer of automotive parts and accessories operates over 5,000 AutoZone stores throughout most of the U.S. and in Mexico.

Analysts expect sales to grow some 6.3% in fiscal 2013, after a 6.6% advance in 2012. One key growth driver will be the opening of some 200 new stores in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil, and the acquisition of online retailer AutoAnything.

I think AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) will perform nicely on the back of industry tailwinds. The average age of vehicles on the road is seven years, which is near all-time highs, and the pent-up demand related to maintenance and service deferrals due to the weak economy should help with top-line growth over the interim.

Bottom line

Billionaire Bacon has been snatching up a number of new stocks, including Citi and Morgan Stanley. I think both of these stocks are long-term buys based on valuation. Another big bet by Bacon, IBM, has the backing of billionaire Buffett and should also perform well on emerging market expansion. Las Vegas is another solid pick given the gaming growth in Macau, while AutoZone should perform nicely given the rising age of vehicles.

The article Billionaire Louis Bacon’s Key Moves originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Marshall Hargrave.

Marshall is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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