After selling out of his entire stake in discount retailer
Dollar Tree (
DLTR
) in the fourth quarter of 2011, Lone Pine Capital's
Steve Mandel
bought back his stake in the third quarter, and then generously
increased his shares by more than 200 percent; the recent
transaction was reported Dec. 10 on
GuruFocus Real Time Picks
.
Mandel's recent move on Dollar Tree positions him at 5.2 percent
of shares outstanding, compared to third quarter's 1.69 percent.
The recent purchase just about triples his third quarter holding.
He reported about 3.9 million shares in September, whereas he now
has 11.8 million shares of the company's stock.
Dollar Tree has a market cap of $9.17 billion. It prospers in the
idea of selling extremely low-priced items in all of its 4,630
stores in 48 states and 5 Canadian provinces. Its stock is up
almost 2 percent this afternoon, trading at $39.26.
Dollar Tree reached its three-year peak right before the start of
the third quarter, trading around $56, and has since been in a
downward trend after its peak.
Year to date, Dollar Tree's market value has depreciated by 6.59
percent, especially so in October when its price dropped from $46
to $39.
DLTR
data by GuruFocus.com
About a month after the price drop, Dollar Tree director Conrad
M. Hall purchased shares of the stock after a six-streak selling
spree from several other Dollar Tree insiders. Purchases appear
rare in the company's insider activity.
Dollar Tree's main competitor, Dollar General, is trading a few
dollars higher than Dollar Tree, around $43 today, and is down
0.32 percent. It, however, has gained in value year to date, by
7.06 percent.
Conveniently, Mandel owns both retail stocks. Upon presenting
Dollar Tree as a new buy in the third quarter, he also added to
his Dollar General stake by 124 percent.
Dollar Tree is ranked positively in Business Predictability by
GuruFocus, graded 5 stars whereas Dollar General lacks a rating
at all.
Dollar Tree's revenue growth has maintained positive numbers in
the last decade, as with its EBITDA, book value and free cash
flow, according to its 10-Year Financials. Dollar Tree has a 9 in
Financial Strength and an 8 in Profitability and Growth on
GuruFocus.
View the rest of Mandel's latest trades at Steve Mandel's Stock
Picks. Also read more on related topics in our GuruFocus archives
About GuruFocus Real Time Picks
GuruFocus Real Time Picks alerts you of the stock purchases and
sales that Gurus have made within the last two days. Follow your
favorite Gurus closely with GuruFocus' Premium Membership! If you
are not a Premium Member, we invite you for a 7-Day Free
Trial.About GuruFocus: GuruFocus.com tracks the stocks picks and
portfolio holdings of the world's best investors. This value
investing site offers stock screeners and valuation tools. And
publishes daily articles tracking the latest moves of the world's
best investors. GuruFocus also provides promising stock ideas in
3 monthly newsletters sent to
Premium Members
.