Steven Cohen, SAC Increase Stake in Annie’s Inc (BNNY)

Steven Cohen of S.A.C Capital Advisors has increased its passive stake in Annie’s Inc (NYSE:BNNY), a recent 13G filing shows. Mr. Cohen raised his holding of Annies to 890,400 shares, up from the previously disclosed 99,000 shares. The current position represents 5.2% of the company’s outstanding common stock.

Based in Berkeley, California, Annie’s Inc (NYSE:BNNY) is a widely-recognized producer of natural and organic foods, having a dominant share in the North American organic food market. The company went public in late March 2012 at an upwardly revised price of $19.00 per share, approximately half the price at which its shares trade today (March 16, 2014). The company generated steady profits in the past 3 years, with net income of $11.6 million in 2013 and earnings per share of $0.80, slightly more than the expected consensus analyst forecast of $0.79. Currently, Annies Inc (NYSE:BNNY) sells at a trailing P/E of 47.50, significantly higher than the industry average of 15.50. The mean analyst recommendation for the company’s stock is “Hold”.

Dmitry Balyasny‘s Balyasny Asset Management and Jacob Gottlieb‘s Visium Asset Management are two other funds having significant stakes in Annies Inc (NYSE:BNNY), the former holding around 182,000 shares worth $7.85 million and the latter holding around 79,000 shares worth $3.38 million.

S.A.C Capital Advisors is a quite diversified hedge fund, with the largest share of its equity portfolio invested in the Services Sector. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) are among the fund’s largest equity investments, with positions of almost 504,000 shares worth $200.87 million and 169,000 shares worth $188.90 million, respectively. Recently, Sac Capital Advisors reported a new stake in Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTA), with Mr. Cohen holding around 2.90 million shares of the company (5.06% of its common stock).

Disclosure: none

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