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Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Here's What This Annual 20% Gainer Has Been Buying

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By Selena Maranjian, The Motley Fool

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Every quarter, many money managers have to disclose what they’ve bought and sold, via “13F” filings. Their latest moves can shine a bright light on smart stock picks.

Today, let’s look at Caxton Associates, founded in 1983 by Bruce Kovner. The investment company is known for relatively few years of negative returns and for average annual gains of about 20% since its inception nearly 30 years ago (per a Wall Street Journal article). That’s a powerful record.

Caxton is also known for charging clients dearly for the privilege of going along for the ride. In an industry known for routinely charging 2% of assets annually while also taking 20% of profits, Caxton had long charged 3% and 30%, though that was shaved down to 2.6% and 27.5% last year — still very steep. (It’s not the only one with such above-average fees.)

The company’s reportable stock portfolio totaled $2.4 billion in value as of Dec. 31, 2012.

Interesting developments
So what does Caxton Associates‘ latest quarterly 13F filing tell us? Here are a few interesting details:

The biggest new holdings are Williams and puts on the iShares Russell 2000 ETF , which focuses on small-cap companies. Other new holdings of interest include R.R. Donnelley & Sons and Northstar Realty Finance . Commercial printer Donnelley provides labels, packaging, and more to the private and public sector. It prints many thousands of forms for the SEC and bought Edgar Online. Bears worry about its steep debt load and a possible reduction of its massive dividend, which recently yielded 9.4%. To succeed, the company needs to do more digital business.

NorthStar Realty Finance is another strong dividend payer, recently yielding 7.5%. It has been growing its revenue at a double-digit clip over the past few years, and offers the benefit of being diversified between real estate debt, mortgage-backed securities, and the old-fashioned leasing of owned properties. While many mortgage-related real estate investment trusts (REITs) have been cutting their dividends, NorthStar recently upped its payout.

Among holdings in which Caxton increased its stake was Melco Crown Entertainment , which operates casinos in gaming Mecca Macau. The company has been performing well lately, racking up revenue and earnings gains and more than doubling its EBITDA margin over the past few years. It’s expanding with properties in the Philippines and elsewhere, too. (The Philippines is expected by some analysts to become a $3 billion gambling market by 2015.)

Caxton reduced its stake in lots of companies, including Regions Financial . The bank is attractive on many counts. It’s repaid its TARP obligation, is posting improving net interest margin and asset quality, and has a powerful presence in the growing Southeast region. Its recent quarter featured a swing from a big loss to a big gain, among other achievements, and a recent stress test revealed improvement in its financial condition, with dividend hikes on the way.

Finally, Caxton Associates‘ …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Here's What This Top-Earning Billionaire Has Been Buying

Leave a comment

By Selena Maranjian, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Every quarter, many money managers have to disclose what they’ve bought and sold, via “13F” filings. Their latest moves can shine a bright light on smart stock picks.

Today let’s look at Moore Capital Management, managed by billionaire Louis Moore Bacon, who’s known for employing a global macroeconomic focus in his investing. He’s been among the top 20 money earners since the 1990s, per GuruFocus.com.

The company’s reportable stock portfolio totaled $3.9 billion in value as of Dec. 31.

Interesting developments
So what does Moore’s latest quarterly 13F filing tell us? Here are a few interesting details,

The biggest new holdings are calls on two ETFs — PowerShares QQQ and Market Vectors Gold Miners. Other new holdings of interest include Sarepta Therapeutics and RF Micro Devices . Sarepta Therapeutics has a lot of people excited about its innovative and promising Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug eteplirsen, which may end up winning accelerated FDA approval. Some wonder whether the company will get bought out, while Wall Street’s interest in the company is growing. Its recent reported loss isn’t as alarming as it seems, either. The company is spending money on boosting its production capacity, too.

RF Micro Devices specializes in radio-frequency (RF) components and semiconductors and has been faring well, as a result of being a component supplier for iDevices. It also supports lower-end phones. Bulls are hopeful about it doing a lot of business in China, where smartphones and upgrades of phones are strong sellers. Some analysts are also expecting a rebound in global semiconductor demand, which bodes well for the company, and smartphones are increasingly employing more RF technology.

Among holdings in which Moore Capital increased its stake was American Capital Agency , which offers investors a huge dividend yield topping 15%. Some worry that the dividend may get reduced (as has happened with some mortgage REITs), but its CEO is bullish enough to have bought more than $500,000 worth of shares recently. In the meantime, the company recently benefited from an increased interest-rate spread higher than some high-profile peers. It has also boosted the proportion of its portfolio that isn’t likely to suffer from borrowers who refinance and prepay mortgages. Be wary, though, as there are some aspects of the company that aren’t too appealing, and it’s quite sensitive to changes in interest rates and inflation. My colleagues have questioned some of management’s moves, too.

Moore Capital reduced its stake in lots of companies, including Melco Crown Entertainment . Melco Crown operates casinos in gaming Mecca Macau, and it has been performing well lately, racking up revenue and earnings gains, and more than doubling its EBITDA margin over the past few years. It’s expanding with properties in the Philippines and elsewhere, too.

Finally, Moore’s biggest closed positions included US Bancorp and the iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF. Other closed positions of interest include TECO Energy . Holding …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance