Columbus Circle Investors’ Boldest Q2 Moves

Founded in 1975, Columbus Circle Investors is one of the oldest institutional money management firms that we track at Insider Monkey. The fund, whose Sr. Managing Director is Clifford G. Fox, CFA, recently submitted its 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the reporting period ended June 30, revealing a U.S. equity portfolio worth $9.97 billion, down from $11.22 billion on March 31.

According to the filing, the fund initiated a stake in 66 stocks during the second quarter, while closing out of 78 holdings. The filing also revealed that the information technology sector was the one most favored by the fund, with stocks from that sector accounting for 32% of the value of the fund’s equity portfolio. Information technology was followed by the consumer discretionary and healthcare sectors, which each accounted for 22% of the portfolio’s value. In this article we will take a closer look at some of the boldest moves made by the fund as it prepared for the second-half of 2016

At Insider Monkey, we track around 765 hedge funds and institutional investors. Through extensive backtests, we have determined that imitating some of the stocks that these investors are collectively bullish on can help retail investors generate double digits of alpha per year. The key is to focus on the small-cap picks of these funds, which are usually less followed by the broader market and allow for larger price inefficiencies (see more details).

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Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC)

– Shares Owned by Columbus Circle Investors (as of June 30): 887,964

– Value of Columbus Circle Investors’ Holding (as of June 30): $78.57 Million

Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) was a new entrant into Columbus Circle Investors’ equity portfolio during the second quarter. Shares of the food and beverage company remained range-bound for almost nine months after the completion of the Kraft Foods and Heinz merger, however, due to the rally they have seen over the past four months, they are currently trading with year-to-date gains of over 15%. Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share, which translates into an annual dividend yield of 2.70%. Some analysts think that the stock is currently overvalued, trading at 28-times its 2016 earnings estimates. On the other hand, analysts at Susquehanna reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating and $98 price target on the stock on July 17, with the price target representing potential upside of 15.10%. Among the hedge funds that reduced their stake in Kraft Heinz during the second quarter was Stephen J. Errico‘s Locust Wood Capital Advisers, which lowered its holding by 44% to 245,814 shares.

Newell Brands Inc (NYSE:NWL)

– Shares Owned by Columbus Circle Investors (as of June 30): 1.62 Million

– Value of Columbus Circle Investors’ Holding (as of June 30): $78.95 Million

Columbus Circle Investors boosted its stake in consumer goods company Newell Brands Inc (NYSE:NWL) by 128% during the second quarter. Newell Brands’ stock spiked recently after the company reported its second quarter earnings and is currently trading up by 23.02% year-to-date. While analysts had expected the company to report EPS of $0.72 on revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, Newell Brands declared EPS of $0.78 on revenue of $3.86 billion. Following the earnings release, several analysts reiterated their ‘Buy’ ratings on the stock, including analysts at Deutsche Bank, who apart from reiterating their rating on August 1, also upped their price target on the stock to $60 from $52. Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management initiated a stake in Newell Brands Inc (NYSE:NWL) during the second quarter, purchasing 45,431 shares of the company.

We’ll reveal three of Columbus Circle’s biggest second quarter moves on the next page.