Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (VOD), General Motors Company (GM) Among Kingstown Capital’s ‘Killer’ Stock Picks

With a medium-sized equity portfolio and assets under management worth $977 million, Kingstown Capital Management is a hedge fund founded and managed by Michael Blitzer. In this piece we will discover the top five picks in the equity portfolio of Kingstown Capital. Among them you will find Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD), General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), and Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:FCE.A).

But before we get started, we suggest you read our definition of a hedge fund. This will provide you some insights from the investment world.

As follows, the largest stake in terms of value is Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD), in which the hedge fund owns 1.6 million shares, worth $45.5 million. Kingstown Capital raised its stake by 100,000 shares during the first three months of 2013. The stock of Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD) has a year-to-date return of over 19% and sports a trailing P/E of 233.1x.

Also, according to the latest 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the second-largest position in Kingstown’s equity portfolio is held by General Motors Company (NYSE:GM). The hedge fund disclosed ownership of 1.5 million shares of the company, worth $41.7 million. The stake increased by 25% over the quarter.

The next on the list we should mention is a $40 million stake in Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:FCE.A). The stake contains 2.25 million shares, up by 100,000 shares over the quarter. Aside from Kingstown, there are 20 other hedge funds that reported stakes in Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:FCE.A) during the first three months of the year.

The fourth-largest on our list of most valuable picks is General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD), represented in the Kingstown Capital’s 13F portfolio by 550,000 shares, the value of the stake amounting to $38.8 million. In the last quarter of 2012, the hedge fund owned 650,000 shares, worth $45 million. The stock of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) returned over 26% year-to-date.

Who’s last?

And the last on our list is E TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC), in which the hedge fund disclosed a $35.9 million stake, which contains 3.35 million shares, up by 100,000 shares in comparison with the end of 2012. Aside from Kingstown Capital, we should also mention Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors, and Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies among the other hedge funds invested in E TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC). Shares have a year-to-date return of almost 68%.

The equity portfolio of Kingstown Capital Management contains stakes in 21 companies, and is worth $552.7 million. With an unchanged number of positions, the value of the 13F portfolio has advanced from $499.5 million reported at the end of last year.

Interested in more hedge fund picks? Check out Ian Cumming and Joseph Steinberg’s Leucadia National. Also, the top picks of Edward Gilhuly and Scott Stuart’s Sageview Capital, and Howard Guberman’s Gruss Asset Management are worth taking a look at.

Disclosure: none.