Third Avenue Management Cuts Real Estate Holdings Heading Into Q2

#3 Forest City Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:FCE.A)

 – Shares Owned by Third Avenue (as of March 31): 5.66 Million

 – Value of Holding (as of March 31): $119.41 Million

A new stake in Forest City Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:FCE.A) represented Mr. Whitman’s most bullish move during the first quarter and totaled 4.59% of Third Avenue’s portfolio value on March 31. In order to reduce its debt and focus its portfolio on core products and markets, Forest City Realty Trust sold The Avenue at Tower City Center, a specialty retail center in downtown Cleveland, for $56.5 million on March 23. Forest City’s shares are up by 1.72% this year, which is considerably lower than the average gains of 8.86% posted by commercial REITs during the same period. Citigroup, however, upgraded the company to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ earlier this month, which could mean that the stock is poised for better performance in the future. AEW Capital owned 4.87 million shares of Forest City Realty at the end of March.

#2 Brookfield Asset Management Inc (NYSE:BAM)

 – Shares Owned by Third Avenue (as of March 31): 4.74 Million

 – Value of Holding (as of March 31): $164.81 Million

Third Avenue has held a stake in Brookfield Asset Management Inc (NYSE:BAM) since the third quarter of 2001 and the holding received a 9% boost to its size during the first three months of this year. Even though the investment management & fund operators industry is down by over 2.43% this year, shares of Brookfield Asset Management have moved against this trend, with year-to-date gains of more than 7%. Markel Gayner Asset Management, which is led by Tom Gayner, inched up its Brookfield Asset Management Inc (NYSE:BAM) holding by 1% to 5.05 million shares during the first quarter.

#1 Weyerhaeuser Co (NYSE:WY)

 – Shares Owned by Third Avenue (as of March 31): 7.35 Million

 – Value of Holding (as of March 31): $227.61 Million

Despite being slashed by 19% during the first quarter, Third Avenue’s Weyerhaeuser Co (NYSE:WY) position occupied the top spot in the fund’s portfolio at the end of March and represented 8.75% of its value. Following first quarter financial results in which the Canada-based global alternative asset manager topped earnings estimates but missed on revenue, DA Davidson downgraded the stock to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ and lowered its price target on it to $33 from $34. Shares of the company are up by 3% year-to-date and by 39% since February 12. First Eagle Investment Management, led by Mehdi Mahmud, raised its Weyerhaeuser Co (NYSE:WY) holding by 137% during the March trimester to 36.01 million shares.

Disclosure: None