In a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SPO Advisory Corp, led by John H. Scully, disclosed boosting its passive stake in Laredo Petroleum Inc (NYSE:LPI). In a separate filing, Orange Capital, led by Daniel Lewis, revealed upping its activist stake in Bellatrix Exploration Ltd (NYSE:BXE). SPO Advisory increased its position in Laredo Petroleum Inc (NYSE:LPI) to 13.45 million shares from 4.19 million shares the fund held previously. The stake equates to 6.3% of the company’s outstanding common stock. In the second filing, Orange Capital raised its activist stake in Bellatrix Exploration Ltd (NYSE:BXE) to 31.51 million shares from 28.15 million shares held at the end of March. The new stake is equal to 16.4% of the company’s outstanding common shares.
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SPO Advisory is a value investing fund founded 1991 by John Scully, the late William Patterson, and William Oberndorf. SPO Advisory holds a very concentrated portfolio, with just 13 long positions. The fund focuses on consumer, energy, technology, and finance stocks. The fund’s top three holdings, in terms of value, are represented by Equinix Inc (NASDAQ:EQIX), Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), and Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD).
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Laredo Petroleum Inc (NYSE:LPI), is a $2.86 billion independent energy company engaged in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. For the first quarter of 2015, Laredo Petroleum Inc (NYSE:LPI) reported a net loss of $472,000, versus a loss of $213,000 in the same quarter last year. During the the most recent quarter, the company produced a record 47,487 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day, representing an increase of about 47% compared to last year. Shares of Laredo have gained 27.12% year-to-date, a substantial increase from the industry average of just 2.45%.
A couple months ago, Laredo Petroleum Inc (NYSE:LPI) conducted an underwritten public offering of 69 million common shares, offered at $11.05 per share. In a statement, the company said that it plans to use proceeds from the share sale to repay all of its outstanding indebtedness under its senior secured credit facility, to redeem the outstanding $550 million of senior unsecured notes, and for capital expenditures. Among the largest shareholders of Laredo Petroleum Inc (NYSE:LPI) is Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital, which holds 1.64 million shares as of the end of March.
Let’s move on to Orange Capital now, which was founded by Daniel Lewis and Russell Hoffman in 2005. Orange Capital follows an event-driven investment strategy, focusing on opportunities arising from events like mergers and acquisitions, buyouts, bankruptcies, etc. The value of the fund’s public equity portfolio stood at $1.38 billion at the end of the first quarter. The finance sector comprised 66% of the fund’s holdings.
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Bellatrix Exploration Ltd (NYSE:BXE) already represented one of the largest holdings in terms of value within Orange Capital’s public equity portfolio, as of the end of the first quarter. The $539.40-million market cap oil and gas company is engaged in the exploration and production business. The company’s stock has not been performing well, losing 68.15% during the past year. The company reported a net loss of $12.69 million for the quarter ending March 31, compared to net income of $25.17 million for the same quarter last year. Despite poor stock performance, Bellatrix Exploration Ltd (NYSE:BXE) remained the top micro-cap holding of Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group at the end of the first quarter. The world’s 11th-largest hedge fund upped its stake in the company by 21% to 21.84 million shares in the first quarter.
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