EJF Capital, led by Emanuel J. Friedman, has increased its stake in Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc (NASDAQ:WHLR) according to a new filing made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. EJF Capital disclosed holding 3.35 million shares of the company, representing a massive increase from the mere 18,111 shares the fund reported in its most recent 13F filing. The stake is passive by nature, and equates to 6.2% of the company’s outstanding common stock. Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc (NASDAQ:WHLR) is a fully-integrated, self-managed commercial real estate investment firm, with a market cap of $17.47 million.
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Washington-based EJF Capital was founded in 2005. The fund employs an event-driven approach to identify opportunities across the entire capital structure of companies. EJF Capital mainly focuses on the banking and finance sectors and has about $5 billion in assets under management. Recently, EJF Capital filed its latest 13F with the SEC, disclosing a public equity portfolio valued at $2.91 billion. In this article, we’ll also discuss EJF Capital’s positions in Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:ALLY), Colony Capital Inc (NYSE:CLNY), and American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS).
First, back to Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc (NASDAQ:WHLR), which is engaged in acquiring and managing retail properties, with a primary focus on grocery-anchored centers. For the first quarter of 2015, the company reported a net loss of $6.3 million, versus a loss of $1.2 million in the same quarter last year. However, revenue for the quarter increased by 57.0% to $5.8 million year-over-year. On Monday, the company announced that it commenced an exchange offer to holders of its series A and B preferred stock. The exchange offer will permit tendering shareholders to exchange their shares of series A preferred stock or series B preferred stock for an aggregate of up to 20.85 million shares of newly-issued shares of the company’s common stock, $0.01 par value per share. Each series A preferred stock share is exchangeable for 500 shares of common stock, and each series B preferred stock share is exchangeable for 12.5 shares of common stock. The exchange offer will expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on July 13. Shares of Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc (NASDAQ:WHLR) have risen by 56.06% during the past year. Among the investors we track is Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, which holds 27,954 shares as of the end of the first quarter.
Let’s take a look at EJF Capital’s other positions, beginning with Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:ALLY). During the first quarter, EJF Capital increased its position in the company by 14% to 18.88 million shares, valued at $396.2 million. The $11.0-billion automotive financial services provider has been EJF Capital’s top holding, in terms of value, for the last four quarters. The company’s financial position looks strong, with its first-quarter net income jumping to $576 million, versus a net income of $227 million in the same quarter last year. In addition, retail deposits at Ally Bank improved to $50.6 billion as of March 31, up 12% year-over-year. Another investor with a heavy stake in Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:ALLY) is Cerberus Capital Management, led by Stephen Feinberg, which disclosed holding 41.52 million shares in its latest 13F.
In Colony Capital Inc (NYSE:CLNY), EJF Capital decreased its stake to 10.20 million shares, worth $264.5 million, from 10.73 million shares it held at the end of 2014. Colony Financial recently closed a combination transaction with Colony Capital LLC, resulting in the formation of Colony Capital Inc (NYSE:CLNY), a real estate and investment management company with a market cap of $2.73 billion. Colony Capital Inc (NYSE:CLNY)’s financial results for the first quarter of 2015 weren’t very impressive, with its net income dropping to $3.6 million, compared to $16.38 million in the same quarter last year. The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share, for a far more impressive yield of 6.09%. Another investor of the company is Brian Jackelow’s SAB Capital Management, which holds 5.30 million shares of the company as of March 31.
During the first quarter, EJF Capital was bullish on American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS), in which the investor upped its stake by 18% to 10.28 million shares, valued at about $151.97 million. American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS) is a global asset manager and private equity firm, with a market cap of $3.86 billion. Recently, American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS) said that its board of directors revised its plans to spin-off to its shareholders two newly-established business development companies (BDCs). Presently, the company intends to spin-off only one new BDC, which will be known as American Capital Income Ltd. At the time of spin-off, American Capital Income is expected to have about $4 billion of equity capital. In other news, American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS) last month announced that it invested $21.5 million in Electronic Warfare Associates Inc. (EWA), which provides electronic warfare, cyber security and advanced commercial test tool solutions to the United States and allied-nation government agencies and commercial customers. The investment will be used to refinance EWA’s existing indebtedness and provide capital for general corporate purposes. During the past year, shares of American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS) have declined by 5.08%. Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management, in its latest 13F, disclosed ownership of 13.41 million shares of American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS).
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