| Barry Rosenstein, Jana Partners (Bloomberg) |
Barry Rosenstein’s Jana Partners revamped its portfolio in the second quarter — and the moves have paid off big-time.
The New York long-short firm, which often engages in activist campaigns, posted its third straight monthly gain and its fourth in the past five months in both of its main funds.
Jana Partners, its eponymous flagship fund, returned 2 percent in September and more than 5 percent for the third quarter. As a result, the fund cut its loss for the year to just 1.1 percent. Jana Nirvana, the firm’s more aggressive fund, gained 3 percent last month and is now down just 1.6 percent for the year. Altogether, it netted nearly 8 percent in the third quarter.
As we reported earlier, Jana established 24 new single-stock positions in the second quarter, excluding puts and calls. That’s the most new positions in a quarter for at least five quarters, according to the firm’s latest quarterly 13F filing. At the same time, Jana liquidated 18 of its existing single-stock positions in the second quarter, leaving just eight stocks that it had held at the end of March.Jana also made some changes in July, according to a monthly report obtained by Alpha.
As of the end of June, its three largest long holdings were ConAgra Foods, the food conglomerate; Liberty Broadband Corp., which owns media properties and is a new position that became the firm’s second-largest long; and longtime holding Walgreens Boots Alliance, the global drugstore chain and the firm’s third-largest long position at quarter’s end.Conagra gained 1 percent in September but was off about 1.5 percent for the quarter. Liberty Broadband added 4 percent last month and more than 18 percent for the quarter.
On the other hand, Walgreens was essentially flat last month and fell 3.2 percent for the quarter.Internet search giant Alphabet — formerly called Google — and software giant Microsoft were the firm’s fourth- and fifth-largest positions at the end of June. Alphabet rose 1.3 percent in September and more than 12 percent for the quarter. Microsoft was flat in September but up nearly 13 percent for the quarter.
Meanwhile, as of the end of July, two stocks that were new positions for the firm in the second quarter became top-five holdings for Jana’s flagship fund. They were European soft-drink bottler Coca-Cola European Partners and packaged foods company Pinnacle Foods. The three stocks rounding out the fund’s top-five positions as of the end of July were Conagra, Liberty and Walgreens.
Coca-Cola European Partners gained about 3.8 percent in September and nearly 12 percent for the quarter. Pinnacle Foods was off nearly 1 percent in September but was up about 8.4 percent for the most recent three months.Two other stocks added to the firm’s portfolio in the second quarter, which also ranked among the top-ten holdings, were online travel agency Expedia and Harris Corp., which makes communications and air traffic control equipment.Expedia returned about 7 percent in September and nearly 10 percent for the quarter. Harris declined by a little more than 1 percent for the month but surged nearly 10 percent in the third quarter.
