George Soros’ Soros Fund Management has disclosed its public equity portfolio for the reporting period of March 31 and according to the fund’s 13F filing the total value of that portfolio stands at $10.16 billion, while the fund has more than $28 billion in total assets under management. The fund was founded by George Soros, an investing expert and author, in 1969 and has registered enormous growth since. Soros has an estimated net worth of $24.2 billion, ranking him at 29th among the world’s richest people according to 2015 estimates by Forbes. Having been in the business for decades, the billionaire has mastered the art of investment and we have been keenly following his investment activities since Insider Monkey’s inception. Some of Soros’ top small-cap picks, which we’ll discuss in this article, are Adecoagro SA (NYSE:AGRO), Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:CY), Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), and Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM).
The top small-cap picks of George Soros are notable to us given the fact that it’s expert investors like him who add great value to our small-cap strategy system, as they are heavily invested in the success of their small-cap picks and have poured considerable resources into identifying undervalued or under-the-radar companies to invest in. We have found that collectively, hedge funds’ top small-cap picks provide a great investment opportunity, with our strategy having returned over 144% since it was launched at the end of August 2012, beating the market by nearly 85 percentage points (see the details).
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Let’s begin with Adecoagro SA (NYSE:AGRO), in which Soros owned 25.92 million shares worth $264.85 million at the end of March. The number of shares owned by the billionaire remained the same compared to the previous reporting period, though their value went up by more than $50 million as the company’s shares had a strong quarter, gaining over 20%. Adecoagro SA (NYSE:AGRO)’s shares have been on a slide since it posted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.02 for the first quarter of 2015, a figure that was well below the consensus estimate of $0.09 issued by Thomson Reuters. The agricultural company, operating mainly in South America, was also downgraded by Zacks to a “Hold” rating shortly afterwards, on May 26, while HSBC analysts downgraded the stock to a “Buy” rating ahead of its latest earnings release. Soros is the largest shareholder of Adecoagro in our database, followed by Dwight Anderson‘s Ospraie Management, whose $108.84 million public equity portfolio consists of Adecoagro and only Adecoagro (needless to say, he’s quite bullish on the stock).
Soros Fund Management has a position in Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:CY) of 13.21 million shares with a market value of $186.49 million, representing an enormous increase both in the number of shares and market value. Six other billionaires also have stake in the stock, with their total ownership amounting to $505.81 million. In the first quarter of 2015, the company’s performance was poor, as it posted an EPS loss of $0.53 against estimated earnings of a gain of $0.01 per share. The company is however expected to improve its performance in the second quarter, with a consensus estimate of $0.08 in EPS. The company recently won a deal with ZTE after the latter chose to use the former’s TrueTouch Gen4 capacitive touchscreen for its nubia Z7 Max smartphone, a development that should positively impact the stock. Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:CY) is respected for its production of high performance solutions for the technology industry, serving diverse markets such as computation, automotive, data communications, mobile handsets and more. Another billionaire who owns a stake in the company is Israel Englander of Millennium Management.
Soros held a total of 3.45 million shares of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) worth $147.45 million, the position unchanged from the previous reporting period. Herbalife has rebounded from a horrendous 2014 in which its shares lost more than 50% of their value, to post gains of 36% in 2015. Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) surprised many people when it released its first quarter 2015 earnings, beating estimates by quite a wide margin, a development that saw the stock shoot up 15% in just hours after the announcement. For the first quarter, Herbalife posted $1.29 in earnings per share, easily beating the $1.01 projected by analysts. Herbalife also raised its financial year 2015 estimates to $4.30-$4.60 from the previous $4.10-$4.50. Carl Icahn of Icahn Enterprises is another notable billionaire investor with a large stake in Herbalife, while billionaire Bill Ackman is famously trying to short the stock.
Soros Fund Management held 10.80 million shares of Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM) valued at $144.76 million, a slight increase from the last reporting period. Polycom’s quarterly results showed $0.17 in earnings per share for the first quarter of 2015, which was short of what analysts were expecting by $0.05. Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM) is set to work extra hard to regain its lost share in North America, according to CEO Peter Leav. However, according to the company’s expectations, results won’t be felt in a single quarter or two. The company has ceded ground in the market to Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO). In spite of the challenges faced by the company and its stock, its adjusted net income per share was $0.23, which was $0.02 higher than analyst estimates. Another billionaire who owns shares of the company is Glenn Russell Dubin of Highbridge Capital Management.
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