The fund that until recently was run by famed manager Steve Mandel (Trades, Portfolio), Lone Pine Capital, has disclosed a position in one of the many companies to stage an initial public offering this year, Chewy Inc. (CHWY, Financial).
The holding consisted of 3,292,923 shares, which gives Lone Pine a 6.1% stake. The value of the holding, dated in a filing from June 14, totaled $115.2 million, making it one of the firm’s smaller holdings.
Lone Pine’s combined equity portfolio listed 29 stock positions at the end of the first quarter, and its largest holding, S&P Global Inc. (SPGI, Financial), was valued around $650.9 million. The positions’ combined value totaled $17.11 billion.
Based in Greenwich, Connecticut, Lone Pine manages hedge funds, long-only funds and a fund of funds, with approximately $20 billion in assets. Mandel, considered a “Tiger Cub” for his former employment with Julian Robertson (Trades, Portfolio), founded Lone Pine in 1997. Over the years, he earned a reputation for profitable stock picking using a bottom-up, fundamental approach and stepped down from day-to-day management in February, remaining as its managing member.
Chewy Inc., which sells pet supplies online, debuted on the public market to great fanfare on June 13. The stock rose 0.86% Tuesday to close at $31.80 per share. It has gained 44% from its initial offering price of $22.
The stock joined the ProShares Pet Care ETF (PAWZ, Financial) on June 21.
"Chewy’s IPO offers further evidence of investor interest in the pet care industry, driven by the global trend of the humanization of pets,” Steve Cohen, managing director at ProShares, said in a release. “Investors are recognizing that pets are more than just loyal companions. They are big business.”
The exchange-traded fund, which seeks to capitalize on the intensifying interest in caring for pets, is down 0.04% since its November 2018 inception, after a 10.02% gain year to date.
Chewy reported $3.5 billion in net sales for its fiscal year 2018, an increase from $2.1 billion in fiscal 2017 and $901 million in fiscal year 2016. Its reported a net loss for fiscal 2018 of $267.89 million, which narrowed from $338.06 million for fiscal 2017. Its number of active customers grew 55.9% to 10,585 for fiscal 2018, down from 123.8% growth in 2017.
Chewy ended the year with $88 million in cash and $64 million in long-term debt.
See Lone Pine Capital’s portfolio here.
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