At the end of the second quarter of 2015, the hedge fund Scepter Holdings Inc. reported a total value of its portfolio of $474 million, which decreased by 13.41% over the previous quarter.
During Q2 2015, the hedge fund bought 23 new stocks and increased four of its stakes. The following are the most heavily weighted buys during the quarter.
It bought shares of VeriSign Inc (VRSN) with an impact of 17.44% on its portfolio. The company is a provider of domain name registry services and internet security, enabling internet navigation for many of the world's recognized domain names and providing protection for websites and enterprises around the world. Its Registry Services ensure the security, stability and resiliency of key Internet infrastructure and services, including the .com and .net domains, two of the Internet's root servers, and operation of the root-zone maintainer functions for the core of the Internet's Domain Name System.
The company has a profitability and growth rating of 7 out of 10 with strong positive returns (ROC 179.13%, ROA 14.41%) that are outperforming 76% of the Global Internet Content and Information industry. Financial strength has a rating of 5 out of 10 with an interest coverage of 6.56 and a very low cash to debt of 1.01 compared to the industry median that is 15.45; this financial situation is hitting the company’s all-time-lows.
The price of the stock has risen by 143% during the last 5 years, by 23% year-to-date and by 25% during the last 12 months. The current price is -1.73% from its 52-week high and +35.47% from its 52-week low.
Verisign ended the second quarter with an increase of $41 million from year-end 2014 in revenue and an increase of $460 million in cash. Also it processed 0.2 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net compared to the same quarter of a year before
Verisign reported net income with a decrease of $7 million and diluted earnings per share with decrease of $0.01 compared to the same quarter in 2014. The operating margin was 56.7% for the second quarter while it was 57.2% for the same quarter in 2014.
The main shareholder of the company is Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) with 11.44% of outstanding shares, followed by Paul Singer (Trades, Portfolio) who holds 6.61% of outstanding shares, and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) with 4.45%.
It bought shares of Cumulus Media Inc (CMLS) with an impact of 1.28% on its portfolio. The company operates under one reportable business segment which is radio broadcasting. The company owns and operates commercial radio station clusters throughout the United States.
The company has a profitability and growth rating of 4 out of 10 with weak returns (ROE 1.14%, ROA 0.17%) that are underperforming 62% of other companies in the Global Broadcasting - Radio industry. Financial strength has a rating of 4 out of 10 with a interest coverage ratio of 1.11 and a very weak cash to debt of 0.01, that is very low if compared to the industry median of 1.23.
The price of the stock has dropped by 42% during the last 5 years, by 71% since the beginning of the year and by 74% during the last 12 months. The current price is -75.15% from its 52-week high and +0.80% from its 52-week low.
Net revenue was down 8.8% and adjusted EBITDA was down 19.6% compared to the same quarter of a year before, but they’ve been able to make large and important investments in human capital, while reducing overall costs and meeting the operating expense targets. Looking ahead to Q3 and Q4, they expect to see sequential improvement in total revenue and expect total expenses in 3Q to be down $17 million and total expenses in 4Q to be down $7 million. This will bring the full-year total expenses down $40 million, consistent with earlier guidance.
The main shareholder is Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.57% of outstanding shares.
It bought shares of iStar Inc (STAR) with an impact of 1.28% on its portfolio. The company is a publicly-traded finance and an investment company focused on the commercial real estate industry, and provides custom-tailored investment capital to high-end private and corporate owners of real estate and invests directly across a range of real estate sectors. The company's three main business segments are Real Estate Lending, Net Leasing and Real Estate Investment.
iStar has a profitability and growth rating of 4 out of 10 with negative returns (ROE -3.77%, ROA 0.10%) that are under performing 90% of the Global REIT - Diversified industry. Financial strength has a rating of 4 out of 10 with a cash to debt of 0.15 that is very high if compared to the industry median of 0.06.
The price of the stock has risen by 257% during the last 5 years, but has dropped by 6% year-to-date and by 14% during the last 12 months. The current price is -16.50% from its 52-week high and +5.81% from its 52-week low.
In the last quarter, iStar reported adjusted income allocable to common shareholders at $0.11 per diluted common share, compared $0.26 per diluted common share for the second quarter 2014.
During the quarter, the company invested $79.2 million and received $178.1 million of proceeds within its real estate finance portfolio and it ended the quarter with $637.1 million of available cash.
The main hedge fund holding shares of the company is Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio) with 8.34% of outstanding shares amounting to 0.63% of its total assets, followed by Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.2% and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.03%.
| Scepter Holdings Inc Top Buys Q2 2015 | |||
| Ticker | Value (x1000) | Impact % | Trade |
| VRSN | 82,665 | 17.44% | New Buy |
| OIH | 17,461 | 3.68% | New Buy |
| CLAC | 7,410 | 1.56% | New Buy |
| CMLS | 6,090 | 1.28% | New Buy |
| STAR | 6,087 | 1.28% | New Buy |
As of the latest quarter, the hedge fund has its portfolio divided by the following sectors:
| Main Sectors | |
| Other | 68% |
| Finance | 15%Â |
| Consumer Discretionary | 12% |
| Energy | 1% |
| Transports | 1% |
