David Abrams (Trades, Portfolio), founder of Abrams Capital Management, has received a lot of attention for several comparatively small additions to his stake in Barnes & Noble Education Inc. (BNED, Financial) since the end of the third quarter, but he has made two considerably larger transactions in another existing stake, a stake that was new to his portfolio in that third quarter, that haven’t been as high profile.
That stake is Manitowoc Co. Inc. (MTW, Financial), a food service and construction company based in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Abrams bought a 5,010,699-share stake in the company in the third quarter for an average price of $17.05 per share. The acquisition had a 5.38% impact on Abrams’ portfolio.
Abrams raised his stake in Manitowoc by nearly 41% in early November with the purchase of 2,031,677 shares for an average price of $16.14 per share. That had a 2.29% impact on Abrams’ portfolio.
Then Abrams trimmed the stake by more than 36% just before Christmas. That transaction, on Dec. 21, 2015, involved the sale of 204,841 shares for an average price of $14.35 per share. The deal had a -1.84% impact on Abrams’ portfolio.
The price per share has dropped nearly 50% since March 2015.
Manitowoc Co. was founded in 1902 as a shipbuilding and ship repair company. Over the years, it grew and diversified, expanding to include boom cranes in the 1920s and commercial refrigeration equipment following World War II.
Today the company’s primary business is the production of cranes for a variety of applications. Food service is a subdivision that produces ice machines and commercial refrigeration equipment.
Manitowoc has a P/E of 33.8, a forward P/E of 10.8, a P/B of 2.3 and a P/S of 0.5. GuruFocus gives Manitowoc a Financial Strength rating of 7/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 6/10.
Last week the company revealed plans to announce its fourth-quarter earnings and issue its guidance for 2016 this Thursday, Jan. 28, after the market close.
Carl Icahn (Trades, Portfolio) is Manitowoc’s leading shareholder among the gurus with a 10,582,660-share stake. That is 7.75% of Manitowoc’s outstanding shares and 0.57% of Icahn’s total assets.
Manitowoc sold for $13.03 per share Saturday.
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