Mark Stupfel’s Cortex Capital Management is a financial investment advisory firm headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, that holds an equity portfolio worth more than $160 million. The equity firm emerged from the ashes of Kleinheinz Capital Partners, where Stupfel worked as a portfolio manager. Moreover, John Kleinheinz, Stupfel’s former boss and Standford University classmate, backed the project with a significant amount of cash.
About one month ago, Cortex filed its first 13F Form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Cortex’s most valuable bet is placed on General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), the $58.5 billion market cap world-known auto manufacturer. The fund owns 398,000 shares -valued at more than $14.7 million.
Not only Stupfel feels bullish about General Motors. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has more than $1.5 billion invested in the auto-maker. Furthermore, David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital owns more than 17 million shares – valued at more than $622 million – which account for more than 10% of the total value of its equity portfolio. And their ownership is quite easy to understand. As the auto market recoups in the U.S. and Europe, the company should deliver strong earnings growth figures. In fact, analysts expect the company to deliver an average annual EPS growth rates around 19% over the next five years, widely outperforming its peers. This must be why most analysts recommended buying this stock at the time, even in spite of its above average valuation of 16.8x P/E, versus an industry average of 11.5x.
At the same time, Matthew Tsien, Executive Vice President of General Motors, increased his stake in the company by about 14%, and currently holds 1,600 shares of Common Stock.
Altisource Asset Management Corp (NYSEMKT:AAMC), a $1.9 billion market cap asset management company that provides portfolio management and corporate governance services, came in second (by a very narrow margin). Cortex owns 18,000 shares of the company, valued at approximately $14.5 million. In addition, other top hedge funds also seem to feel bullish about Altisource Asset Management. For instance, Brian Jackelow‘s Sab Capital Management – the company’s largest hedge fund bull – last reported increasing its stakes by 16%, to more than 195,000 shares –which accounted for more than 9% of its Q4 equity portfolio. Another important fund betting on this company is Ben Gambill‘s Tiger Eye Capital, which owns more than 139,000 shares of the company, even in spite of its weak fundamentals.
In addition, Cortex holds 80,000 shares (worth more than $8.8 million) of Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A. (NASDAQ:ASPS), which further proves the fund’s bullishness about Altisource and its diverse subsidiaries. This last NASDAQ-traded company displays backup of some of the most prominent investors of our time, including Jim Simons and Leon Cooperman.
The last case I would like to highlight is that of Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C). Stupfel’s fund holds 225,400 shares of the company, worth $11.17 million. Furthermore, Mullen is not the only one feeling confident about this stock’s future performance: over Q4, Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group increased its stakes in the company by 11%, to more than 104 million shares, which are valued at more than $5 billion. Other investors with major stakes are Eric Mindich and Philippe Jabre.
Moreover, analysts also seem to like this stock: a cheap valuation (11.6x P/E vs. an industry mean of 13.8x) and above average long-term EPS growth prospects, make it a buy/strong buy case for most analysts. A mean price target of $60.17 per share implies an upside potential of more than 20%.
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position in any stocks mentioned
Recommended Reading:
Billionaire John Paulson and Jacob Gottlieb Boost Their Stakes in Enzymotec Ltd (ENZY)
