John Burbank is Bullish on Solazyme Inc (SZYM); Passport Capital Boosts Stake to 6%

In the equity portfolio of John Burbank‘s Passport Capital, the holding of Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM) has climbed a couple of positions recently, following Passport raising significantly its stake. According to a new filing, Mr. Burbank raised his stake to around 4.35 million shares of the company, equal to 6.2% of the stock. Earlier, Passport held around 200,000 shares of Solazyme in its equity portfolio.

Recently, Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM) conducted a sale of 5.75 million common shares and around $150 million of its 5.00% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes due 2019. According to a statement, the net proceeds from the deal amounted to over $200 million, which the company will use for capital expenditures and corporate purposes.

The share price of Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM), which is engaged in production of renewable oil, has picked up by less then 1.0% since the beginning of the year. Aside from Mr. Burbank, several other hedgies seem to be bullish on the company. Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates has raised his stake by more than a tenfold to over 204,900 shares held at the end of 2013. On the other hand, Michael Platt and William Reeves, the managers of Bluecrest Capital Mgmt., left their stake unchanged at some 280.500 shares.

Also, last month Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM) introduced a new product on the market of biofuels, Encapso, which is the first encapsulated biodegradable lubricant for drilling fluids. According to the company, the new product has proven itself efficient during field testing in a number of commercial oil wells, helping to speed up the drilling process and control and protecting the equipment.

During the past couple of years, the small cap company Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM) has been posting losses and missing the analysts estimates. For the last year, the company reported a net loss of -$1.38 per share, down from $1.16 reported for 2012. The revenue of the company also declined to $39.8 million, from $44.1 million. For the current year, the analysts expect the company to report a negative EPS of -$1.31, on revenues worth around $117 million. Nevertheless, the stock is appreciated as ‘Overweight,’ with the average target price set at above $13 per share.

Yesterday, Mr. Burbank has disclosed reducing the position in the China based company 58.com Inc (ADR) (NYSE:WUBA), of which it now holds 2.0 million shares, down from 3.7 million reported previously.

Disclosure: none

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