Michael Vermut’s Newland Capital Boosts Its USA Truck Inc Stake $USAK

Ken Brodkowitz and Michael Vermut’s Newland Capital disclosed a 5.5% stake in USA Truck Inc (USAK). They now own 579 thousand shares of USAK and their stake is worth $6.7 Million. This purchase wasn’t very surprising though. Newland Capital had 326 thousand shares of USAK at the end of March. As the stock lost around 16% in 2011, Brodkowitz and Vermut decided that it is a bigger bargain. An officer of the company, Burton Donald Weis, also purchased a nominal amount in UASK at the end of April when the stock was trading at $12.50. Jim Simons’ Renaissance also had 96K shares of the company at the end of March.

Ken Brodkowitz used to be an equity trader at Goldman Sachs and a portfolio manager at Rajaratnam’s Galleon. Mike Vermut was an analyst at Harvest Management. The duo met at Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management and were managing an industrial-focused portfolio from 2003 to 2007. Brodkowitz and Vermut left Balyasny and launched Newland Capital, a long/short equity hedge fund, in 2007.

According to Yahoo Finance, USA Truck, Inc. operates as a truckload carrier that provides general commodities transportation services in the continental United States, Mexico, and Canada. The company transports full dry van trailer loads of freight from origin to destination. It offers truckload freight services as a short-to medium-haul common carrier, as well as freight brokerage services, rail intermodal services, and third party logistics. The company also provides scheduling, routing, and mode selection services. USA Truck, Inc. offers its services to various industries, such as industrial machinery and equipment, rubber and plastics, retail stores, paper products, durable consumer goods, metals, electronics, and chemicals. As of December 31, 2009, its trucking fleet consisted of 2,328 in service tractors and 7,214 trailers. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Van Buren, Arkansas.