Lucas Capital Management Loves Energy Stocks and Apple Inc (AAPL)

Russell Lucas’ Lucas Capital Management has filed its 13F with the SEC for the reporting period of June 30. Lucas Capital Management, which is known for its investments in the energy market, has more than $750 million worth of assets under management. Russell Lucas, along with his father George B. Lucas Jr., founded the firm in 1996. The hedge fund manager reported a public equity portfolio valued at $225.02 million, which was down by 9.23% in comparison to the previous reporting period. The investment firm has 62% of its equity investments in the energy sector and its top ten stock holdings account for 29.09% of its overall portfolio. Sabine Royalty Trust (NYSE:SBR), Dorchester Minerals LP (NASDAQ:DMLP), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) were the largest equity positions held by Russell Lucas at the end of the second quarter.

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Lucas Capital Management had its largest equity investment in Sabine Royalty Trust (NYSE:SBR) as of June 30, holding 265,021 shares of the company valued at $10.01 million. However, the investment manager reduced its position in the Dallas, Texas-based energy company during the second quarter, dropping 43,378 shares during the period. Sabine Royalty Trust distributes its monthly revenues to its unit holders and Southwest Bank is the trustee of the express trust. The trust owns nearly 5,400 tracts of land in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. At the end of the first quarter of 2015, Sabine Royalty Trust (NYSE:SBR) reported net income of $15.11 million, out of which, $14.56 million was distributed among its unit holders through monthly distributions. These figures came in higher in comparison to the $13.78 million and distributable income of $13.17 million from a year ago. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group was another major shareholder of the company, owning 30,217 shares valued at $1.19 million as of March 31.

A similar investing sentiment was visible in Lucas Capital’s stake in Dorchester Minerals LP (NASDAQ:DMLP), as the investment manager cut its stake in the energy company by 7% by the end of the second quarter, with reported ownership of 429,042 shares valued at $9.18 million. The firm is involved in the ownership, administration, and acquisition of Royalty Properties and Net Profits Interests (NPIs). The cash distribution for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 came in lower than the prior year quarter, with distribution of $0.17 compared to $0.49 from one year ago. The firm reported net cash receipts of $7.22 million for the quarter, which was much lower than the cash receipts of $17.3 million year-over-year. The shares of Dorchester Minerals LP (NASDAQ:DMLP) are down by 30.4% year-to-date, lowering the firm’s market cap to $521.79 million. Whetstone Capital Advisors, led by David Atterbury, is among the major stockholders of the company with 102,140 shares of Dorchester Minerals LP (NASDAQ:DMLP) valued at $2.32 million in its portfolio.

iPhone-maker, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), was another major stock investment of Russell Lucas, who had 64,746 shares of the company in his portfolio, with a market value of $8.12 million. The investment manager lowered his equity position in eight out of his top ten stock holdings and Apple was no exception, with 449 shares of the company sold by Lucas during the quarter. Despite beating Wall Streets’ earnings and revenue expectations, the shares of Apple Inc. declined in excess of 7% in the after-hours trading on July 21. Apple Inc reported revenues of $49.6 billion with profit of $1.85 per share compared to the prior year figures of $37.4 billion and $1.28 per share, respectively. The primary reason for the decline was the lower-than-estimated iPhone sales’ figures, at 47.5 million units against expectations of 50 million units. The co-founder and research director of Insider Monkey, Dr. Ian Dogan, has maintained a bearish outlook on the iPhone maker for over a year now. According to Mr. Dogan, the dependency of Apple on iPhone sales is likely to affect the company in the longer run. Carl Icahn of Icahn Capital LP is among the largest stockholders of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), with 52.76 million shares valued at $6.56 billion in his portfolio at the end of the first quarter.

Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) comes in at number four in the list of top equity investments of Lucas Capital Management. The fund reported dropping its stake in the petroleum company by 9% during the second quarter to 191,282 shares valued at $6.43 million. It has been a difficult year for Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL)’s stock, which has dropped by 36.58% year-to-date. The independent petroleum company will announce its second quarter 2015 results on July 29 after the market closes. Wall Street is expecting a drop of 20% in its quarterly revenue, with expected revenue of $668.80 million and a consensus earnings estimate of $0.02. Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) has attracted investments from major hedge fund managers like John Paulson of Paulson & Co, who had a holding worth $384.66 million in the company at the end of the first quarter.

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