Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NATR), Core-Mark Holding Company, Inc. (CORE): Nelson Obus, Wynnefield Capital Love These Stocks

New York-based hedge fund Wynnefield Capital was founded by Nelson Obus and Joshua Landes in 1992. The hedge fund, managed by Obus, is focusing on “U.S. small cap situations that have a company or industry specific catalyst(s),” according to the fund itself. In this piece we will discuss top five largest stock picks in terms of value.

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As follows, during the first three months of 2013, Wynnefield disclosed ownership of 715,469 shares in Core-Mark Holding Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:CORE). The value of the stake amounts to $36.2 million, up from $33.4 million at the end of 2012, when the hedge fund reported 715,479 shares.

In Landec Corporation (NASDAQ:LNDC), Nelson Obus’ hedge fund reported a $27.3 million stake, which contains almost 2 million shares, down by 207,560 shares over the quarter. The stock of Landec Corporation (NASDAQ:LNDC) has a year-to-date return of over 58% and trades at a trailing P/E of 19.0x.

Next on our list is ICON plc – Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:ICLR), represented in Wynnefield’s equity portfolio by 788,844 shares, worth $25.1 million. In the previous filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the hedge fund revealed a $29.8 million stake, which contained 1.1 million shares.

We should also mention MVC Capital, Inc. (NYSE:MVC). The hedge fund’s position in the company involves 1.9 million shares, and the value of the stake amounts to $23.9 million. In comparison with the last quarter of 2012, during the first three months of 2013, Wynefield’s stake in MVC Capital, Inc. (NYSE:MVC) increased by 20,235 shares. The stock of MVC Capital, Inc. (NYSE:MVC) has returned more than 5% since January and has a P/E of 460.7x.

Who’s last?

Finally, we have the $22.8 million position held by Wynnefield in Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NASDAQ:NATR). The hedge fund reported ownership of more than 1.5 million shares. During the last quarter of 2012, Nelson Obus’ hedge fund disclosed a stake in Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NASDAQ:NATR) which contained a little below 1.5 million shares, and was worth $21.1 million. The year-to-date return of Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NASDAQ:NATR)’s stock is about 26%. Aside from Wynnefield, four other hedge funds reported stakes in Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NASDAQ:NATR) at the end of last quarter.

In total, Wynnefield Capital’s equity portfolio contains stakes in 39 companies and has a value of $293.7 million. In the previous filing, the value of the portfolio amounted to $287.7 million, and involved the same number of companies.

Aside from Wynnefield Capital, we suggest you take a look at the largest picks of Ian Cumming and Joseph Steinberg’s Leucadia National, Edward Gilhuly and Scott Stuart’s Sageview Capital, and Howard Guberman’s Gruss Asset Management.

Disclosure: none