Jim Chanos (Trades, Portfolio), president of Kynikos Associates, acquired 12 new holdings in the second quarter. Among them are Energizer Holdings Inc. (ENR, Financial), Crown Holdings Inc. (CCK, Financial) and Starz (STRZA, Financial).
Chanos founded Kynikos in 1985 as a firm specializing in short selling. Chanos says his investment strategy is based on intensive research into stocks. He looks for fundamental and large market failures in valuation, which are based on underestimated or previously unreported failings in the business or market of a stock. He will then take a short position and will hold that position for a long time.
Energizer
In Energizer, Chanos purchased 130,990 shares for an average price of $45.76 per share. The transaction had an impact of 2.1% on the portfolio, and the stock has risen 8% since then.
Energizer manufactures, markets and distributes household batteries, specialty batteries and lighting products. The company has a market cap of $3.1 billion with an enterprise value of $3.5 billion. It has a price-earnings (P/E) ratio of 23.7 with a forward P/E of 18.4. Its price-sales (P/S) ratio is 1.8.
GuruFocus ranked its financial strength 5 of 10 and its profitability and growth 5 of 10. The company’s operating margin is 13.8%, and its net margin is 8.1%. Its Altman Z-Score is 3.2, placing it in the safe zone.
Crown Holdings
In Crown, Chanos purchased 131,329 shares for an average price of $52.27 per share. The transaction had an impact of 2.08% on the portfolio, and the stock has risen 3% since then.
Crown is engaged in the design, manufacturing and sale of packing products for consumer goods. Its main products are steel and aluminum cans and metal vacuum closures. The company has a market cap of $7.5 billion with an enterprise value of $12.7 billion. It has a P/E of 16.6 with a forward P/E of 14.01. Its price-book (P/B) ratio is 23.7, and its P/S is 0.8.
GuruFocus ranked its financial strength 4 of 10 and its profitability and growth 7 of 10. The company’s operating margin is 11.7%, and its net margin is 5.34%. Its Piotroski F-Score is 6, indicating a stable financial condition. Its Altman Z-Score is 2.05, placing it in the grey zone.
Starz
In Starz, Chanos purchased 145,214 shares for an average price of $26.62 per share. The transaction had an impact of 1.36% on the portfolio, and the stock has risen 19% since then.
Starz is a media and entertainment company that provides premium subscription video programming. It has a market cap of $3.1 billion with an enterprise value of $4.14 billion. It has a P/E of 15.6 with a forward P/E of 12.9. Its P/B is 13, and its P/S is 1.9.
GuruFocus ranked its financial strength 5 of 10 and its profitability and growth 6 of 10. The company’s operating margin is 22.6%, and its net margin is 12.6%. Its Piotroski F-Score is 5, indicating a stable financial condition. Its Altman Z-Score is 3.5, placing it in the safe zone.
Other new holdings acquired by Chanos in the second quarter are WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ, Financial), SPDR S&P Metals & Mining (XME, Financial), FireEye Inc. (FEYE, Financial), Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC, Financial), PowerShares QQQ Trust Series 1 (QQQ, Financial), Cynosure Inc. (CYNO, Financial), iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV, Financial), iShares MSCI Emerging Market Income ETF (EEM, Financial) and WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ).
Disclosure: I do not own stock in any companies mentioned in the article.
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