Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co (HMHC), YRC Worldwide, Inc. (YRCW), Dynegy Inc. (DYN): Marc Lasry’s Top Second Quarter Stock Picks

Avenue Capital Group, a New York-based hedge fund run by Marc Lasry has disclosed its stock holdings for the second quarter in a 13F filing with the Security and Exchange Commission. Lasry has revealed 35 positions, which makes him fairly focused. The fund’s $1.5 billion equity portfolio is balanced towards consumer discretionary and transportation sector, which together make 56% of the total stocks held.  The top three picks for the quarter, which make 37% of the total equity portfolio, are Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co (NASDAQ:HMHC), YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW) and Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN).

On the first position in Lasry’s equity portfolio sits Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co (NASDAQ:HMHC), a $2.6 billion education solutions provider based in Boston, Massachusetts. Lasry currently owns 11.5 million shares that have a market value of $220 million. The stake in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co (NASDAQ:HMHC) makes as much as 14.26% of the investor’s equity portfolio. Also worth mentioning, insiders Linda Kay and William Frederick have recently sold 52,762 and 15,000 shares respectively.

John Paulson’s Paulson&Co is bullish on Mifflin Harcourt Co (NASDAQ:HMHC) as well, having a bigger stake of 30 million shares worth $592 million.

The second place in Lasry’s equity portfolio is taken by YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW), a $707 million market cap freight company, in which the investor holds 7.2 million shares worth $204 million. The stake in YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW) remains unchanged from the previous quarter and makes 13.21% of the investor’s equity holdings.

Amici Capital is also bullish on YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW), owning 2.1 million shares valued at $64 million.

Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN), an electric energy producer, is on third place in the investor’s equity portfolio. In the second quarter, Lasry has sold 1 million shares in the company, decreasing its stake to 4.2 million. The Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN) stake has a current market value of $146 million and makes 9.46% of the investor’s total equity holdings.

Other investors in Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN) include Howard Marks’ Oaktree Capital Management with 6.9 million shares worth $241 million and Jonathan Barrett’s Luminus Management with 2.2 million shares valued at $79 million.

Avenue Capital Group, which was founded in 1995 by Marc Lasry and Sonia Gardner, has $14.1 billion assets under management according to the investor’s website.

Disclosure: none