GAMCO Investors and Clinton Group Update Positions in Two Stocks

In a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, GAMCO Investors has disclosed an increase in its stake in Blyth, Inc. (NYSE:BTH), a direct-to-consumer marketing company. Mario Gabelli‘s fund has acquired 230,500 shares, taking its investment to 2.49 million shares or 15.45% of the company’s common stock. In another filing with the SEC, George Hall and Clinton Group have reiterated their stake in Porter Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBIB), following the expiry of warrants held by Clinton Group, that were not exercised. The fund holds 579,142 shares of the bank holding company, which account for approximately 3% of the total number of shares outstanding.

Billionaire Mario Gabelli founded GAMCO Investors in 1977 as a broker/dealer and has since developed it into a complex financial services company, which manages more than $30 billion in assets. He is known for his unusual compensation scheme, having no salary and receiving no bonus or stock options; instead he takes a 10% of the company’s pre-tax profit. Having a soft spot for media companies, Gabelli continues to hold a major position in DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV), having slightly reduced it during the second quarter to 3.43 million shares. He is still bullish on Bank of New York Mellon Corp (NYSE:BK) and has increased his stake by 2% during the second quarter to amass 6.68 million shares, according to GAMCO’s latest 13F filing. Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) ends GAMCO’s top three stock holdings, with Gabelli having trimmed his stake to some 11.5 million shares.

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Ahmet Okumus, the manager of Okumus Fund Management, is a big fan of Blyth, Inc. (NYSE:BTH), having built a position that amasses 657,132 shares, according to his fund’s latest 13F filing. David E. Shaw‘s D. E. Shaw also holds a stake in the company, although it was reduced by 37% during the second quarter to 118,331 shares. Blyth, Inc. (NYSE:BTH)’s stock has been in a downtrend since 2012 and has slumped by 34% so far this year. For the three months ending June 30, the company posted revenues of $87.9 million and a loss per share of $0.55. Blyth’s proposed takeover by The Carlyle Group LP is under investigation, amid suspicions of breach of fiduciary duty by the company’s board of directors. According to the takeover agreement, each Blyth shareholder is set to receive $6.00 in cash per share in a transaction estimated at $98 million. With the stock trading significantly higher earlier this year, the investigators are concerned the Board had not acted in the best interest of its shareholder by approving the deal.

Founded in 1991, Clinton Group is a fund that specializes in public equity and fixed income investments. George Hall employs fundamental and quantitative analysis to pick his investments and his fund sports an equity portfolio with a value of $715 million. The portfolio is well diversified, with tech and consumer discretionary stocks accounting for 34% of the value, while financial stocks come in third with 12%. Clinton’s top 10 positions have registered an overhaul during the second quarter, with new additions, including TE Connectivity Ltd (NYSE:TEL) and E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD), representing the first two positions. Hall has acquired 127,874 shares of TE Connectivity, while his position in Du Pont amasses 124,619 shares. He has also given a massive boost to his investment in AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE:ABC), taking it to 72,903 shares and making it Clinton’s third largest equity position.

Among the hedge funds that we track, Clinton Group is the only fund that has reported a position in Porter Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBIB) at the end of the second quarter. The stock has been gaining ground so far this year, surging by 191% to $1.49 per share, giving the company a market cap of approximately $30 million. The company’s second quarter revenue came in at $8.94 million, while net earnings turned negative to a loss of $0.08 per share. Porter Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBIB) operates 18 banking offices in 12 counties in Kentucky and has net loans of $648 million and deposits of $904 million as of June 30, 2015.

Disclosure: none.