The Dallas-based Carlson Capital, led by Clint Carlson, has filed a 13D filing with the SEC regarding its stake in Vitamin Shoppe Inc. (NYSE:VSI). The freshly-submitted public filing disclosed the fund’s ownership of 1.97 million shares, which represent 6.63% of the company’s outstanding common stock. As a result, Carlson Capital increased its position size in the company by 641,100 shares since its most recent 13F filing with the SEC.
Carlson Capital LP is an employee-owned hedge fund established by Clint Carlson in 1993. The investment management firm takes a multi-strategy approach to investing, which consists of risk arbitrage, convertible arbitrage, relative value arbitrage, distressed/credit arbitrage, and long/short strategies. Carlson Capital currently manages over $6 billion in assets under management across its multiple hedge fund portfolios. To be more detailed, the multi-strategy asset management firm manages the Black Diamond group of hedge funds, two separate managed accounts, and one fund of hedge funds. Clint Carlson, the President and Chief Investment Officer at Carlson Capital, had served as the head of risk arbitrage for the investment arm of the Bass Brothers organization prior to launching his own firm. According to its most recent 13F filing, Carlson Capital manages a public equity portfolio with a value of $8.97 billion, with the top ten holdings accounting for only 16.66% of its entire portfolio.
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Vitamin Shoppe Inc. (NYSE:VSI) is a specialty retailer and direct marketer of a wide portfolio of nutritional products that includes vitamins, minerals, nutritional supplements, herbs, and sports nutrition formulas, to name just a few. The company operates more than 700 company-operated retail stores throughout the United States and Canada selling the aforementioned products. The shares of Vitamin Shoppe have not delivered any gains for investors this year, down by over 24% year-to-date. The share price of the company has seen downward pressure throughout the year, partly due to the company’s turmoil associated with its change in leadership and lower-than-expected financial results.
The multi-channel specialty retailer and manufacturer of nutritional products appointed Colin Watts as its new Chief Executive Officer on March 3, 2015. The newly-appointed CEO embarked on this new journey on April 6, so the market should not expect any dramatic changes right away. Colin Watts succeeded Tony Truesdale, who announced his plans to retire in September 2014, after working for more than nine years at Vitamin Shoppe. The experience of Colin Watts in the consumer products and healthcare industry, acquired through the course of his career at a few well-known firms such as Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE:WTW) and Walgreens, will definitely assist Vitamin Shoppe in developing and growing its operations further. In May of this year, Vitamin Shoppe announced that it would no longer be selling products that contain BMPEA, a substance that does not meet the statutory definition of a dietary ingredient. In addition to that, the company will not sell products that contain the botanical acacia rigidula either, which are at risk for containing BMPEA. Considering the fact that the portfolio of products manufactured and marketed by Vitamin Shoppe somewhat tightens, the freshly-assigned CEO will surely be seeking for new opportunities when it comes to providing a wider range of products, which will eventually boost the company’s growth.
The financial results for the fiscal first quarter of 2015 were disappointing and the company was genuine enough to acknowledge that. Vitamin Shoppe posted net sales of $336.8 million in that quarter, which ended on March 28, compared to the top-line figure of $307.8 million reported in the same quarter a year ago. However, the company reported fully-diluted earnings per share of $0.63 in the quarter, compared to earnings per share of $0.67 reported a year ago. The management of Vitamin Shoppe has also announced a share repurchase program that allows the company to purchase up to $100 million of its shares over the next three-year period. This adds to another in-process $100 million share buyback program announced last year, so it is quite clear that the company is set to deliver shareholder value in the upcoming years. Within our database, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group is among the largest investors in Vitamin Shoppe Inc. (NYSE:VSI), holding 956,047 shares.
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