Ken Griffin’ Citadel Ups Stake in PHH Corporation (PHH) To Nearly 7%

Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, has raised its stake in PHH Corporation (NYSE:PHH), a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed. Citadel has disclosed holding 3.97 million shares of the company, an increase from 1.59 million shares the fund reported in its latest 13F filing. The position is equivalent to 6.9% of common stock and is passive by nature.

PHH Corporation (NYSE:PHH) is a provider of business process management services for the mortgage and fleet industries. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion. Shares of PHH Corporation (NYSE:PHH) rose 0.35% on early Thursday, hitting $23.00. Analysts set the consensus average target price of $26.50 for the company’s stock. The consensus average recommendation is ‘overweight.’

In the beginning of this month, the company announced that it agreed to sell its Fleet Management Services business d/b/a PHH Arval to Element Financial Corporation for about $1.40 billion in cash. Upon closing and subject to certain post-closing purchase price adjustments, the company expects to record an after-tax gain of about $250 million to $300 million, and net proceeds after taxes and transaction expenses are expected to be about $750 million to $800 million. The transaction is expected to close on or before July 31, 2014, according to a statement.

For the first quarter of 2014, PHH Corporation (NYSE:PHH) reported a net loss attributable to the company of $42 million, or $0.73 per basic share. Core loss and core loss per share for the quarter amounted $18 million and $0.32, respectively.

Aside from Ken Griffin, EJF Capital’s Emanuel J. Friedman disclosed ownership of 4.19 million shares of the company and Orange Capital, managed by Daniel Lewis, holds 3.45 million shares as of the end of March.

In January, Brian Taylor‘s Pine River Capital Management disclosed cutting its position in PHH Corporation (NYSE:PHH) to around 1.56 million shares. Recently, Citadel Advisors reported increasing its exposure to Rice Energy Inc (NYSE:RICE) and Spansion Inc. (NYSE:CODE).

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