Increasingly, legendary activist investor
Daniel Loeb
, founder of New York-based hedge fund Third Point LLC, has long
locked-in his reputation in the investing world largely by
stirring media controversy through his very public shareholder
letters that boldly highlight his aggressive attempts to push for
change and replenish company board seats.
Case in point, Loeb's successful proxy contest with Yahoo (
YHOO
) last year, penning letters mocking, in his words, Yahoo's
"crappy interface" and "stupid logo," as well as expressing that
Yahoo "had one of the most horrendous management teams" he'd ever
seen.
Recently, Loeb has also grabbed a position in Herbalife (
HLF
). While Loeb has not released any public statements as of yet,
the purchase came in flawless timing with Pershing Square's
Bill Ackman
's famous short sale of the company, itself creating an outflow
of headlines that imply a war between the hedge funds.
Loeb's bold investment moves make it hard for public interest to
turn away from the Guru's next action.
Loeb's Third Point Offshore Fund delivered 21.2 percent in
returns for 2012. His portfolio contains 40 stocks, with a
quarter-over-quarter turnover rate of 45 percent, and a total
value of more than $5 billion.
Below are three stocks in Loeb's portfolio with the highest
10-Year EBITDA growth rates.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (
UNH
)
UnitedHealth Group (
UNH
) was one of Loeb's big bet on insurance companies in last year's
second quarter, along with Humana (
HUM
), Aetna (
AET
) and Cigna (
CI
). It is a diversified health care coverage and benefits
provider.
In three years, the company has gone up 57.19 percent in market
value. Its operating margin has declined by 3.8 percent for five
years straight, and it sits at dividend yield of 1.6 percent.
UnitedHealth has a 10-Year EBITDA growth of 19.7 percent, and has
Business Predictability rank of 3 Stars. Loeb currently has 2
million shares of UnitedHealth. Purchased at an average price of
$57.30 last year, the company's stock price has gone down about
$5. Today it trades at $52.41, up 1.93 percent this afternoon.
Murphy Oil Corp. (
MUR
)
Murphy Oil has a 10-Year EBITDA growth rate of 17.4 percent.
The Arkansas-based energy company makes up 5.1 percent of Loeb's
portfolio. In his third quarter letter, Loeb revealed that Third
Point initiated its investment following a three-year period
which Murphy's share price declined by 15 percent. The fund
suggested Murphy management's four steps towards recovering its
share value. These four include spinning off its retail segment,
selling its Canadian natural gas assets, selling its 5 percent
stake in Syncrude Oil Sands Project and completing the company's
UK Refining Business exit.
Third Point stated in the letter:
"These four transactions could generate pre-tax proceeds of
$8.4 - $8.9 billion...Third Point estimates that the associated
EBITDA with the assets sales is $750 million or ~20% of our 2013
EBITDA forecast for Murphy. Based on a current enterprise
valuation of $10.4 billion, our analysis suggests investors are
paying only $2.6 - 3.1 billion for the balance of Murphy's
assets, which we estimate could generate $2.9 billion in EBITDA
in 2013. This "new", slimmed-down Murphy has tremendous
upside."
Loeb paid an average price of $52.94 for the 4.8 million Murphy
stocks he purchased in the third quarter or last year. Today the
stock trades at $60, down 0.17 percent.
WellPoint Inc. (
WLP
)
Loeb bought shares of WellPoint in the third quarter of 2009, and
sold out by the beginning of 2010 when the stock's average price
rose from $52 to $62. Loeb picked up the stock again in the
second quarter of last year, pursuing 850,000 shares and adding
400,000 more by the following quarter.
Healthcare plan provider WellPoint has a 10-Year EBITDA growth
rate of 12.1 percent.
At the end of December, the company wrapped up its acquisition of
Amerigroup Corp., another managed care company, enhancing
WellPoint's competitive position in the Dual Eligible and
Medicaid markets, anchoring state governments and its program
beneficiaries.
WellPoint stock is up 2.98 percent today, trading at $61.85. It
remains 1.4 percent of Loeb's portfolio.
To view
Daniel Loeb
's latest trades, visit
Stock Picks
.
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