Einhorn's Greenlight Capital Cuts GM Stake, Exits Time Warner
August 14 2017 - 5:24PM
Dow Jones News
By Ezequiel Minaya
David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital Inc. sharply pared down its
holdings of General Motors Co. and regional pharmacy-chain Fred's
Inc. in the second quarter, while acquiring more shares of
department store Dillard's Inc. and selling off its position in
Time Warner Inc.
GM remained among the firm's largest positions in the April
through June period, but Mr. Einhorn trimmed the stake by 25% to
54.76 million shares.
GM resisted Greenlight's push to split its stock, and
shareholders sided overwhelmingly with the auto maker. Mr. Einhorn
had called on the Detroit auto maker to split its common stock into
two classes: one that pays dividends and a second that would
entitle its holders to all additional earnings.
The fund's position in Fred's was cut by 31% to 1.5 million
shares during the period. The stock had enjoyed a run-up in price
after it was invited to buy a large chunk of stores to address
antitrust concerns in Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.'s plan to buy
Rite Aid Corp. But the company's share price plunged when the
merger deal was nixed in June. Shares in Fred's have declined 56%
over the past three months and closed Monday at $6.45.
Among the fund's notable exits, it shed its remaining shares of
Time Warner, ahead of AT&T Inc.'s $85.4-billion deal for the
media giant.
Greenlight also cut its positions in hospital chain Quorum
Health Corp. by 50% and performance-chemicals company Chemours Co.
by 28%.
The fund increased its bet on the beleagured retail sector,
upping its stake in Dillard's by nearly a third to 2.5 million
shares. It also more than doubled its stake in Micron Technology
Inc., which most recently beat quarterly earnings forecasts and
offered a bright outlook for its business.
Among the fund's notable additions, Mr. Einhorn carved out a new
position of 4.45 million shares in Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Co.
Greenlight's positions were disclosed Monday in a 13F filing
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a quarterly
requirement for investors managing more than $100 million. The
report indicates the number of shares held and the value of each
stake at the end of the quarter.
Greenlight has been forced to pay back more than $400 million in
clients' withdrawals at midyear, as more than 15% of eligible
investors chose to cash out, people close to the firm told the Wall
Street Journal in July. Greenlight, a U.S.-stock specialist, was
down 2% in the first half of the year, while the S&P 500 gained
9%, including dividends.
--Rob Copeland contributed to this article
Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 14, 2017 18:09 ET (22:09 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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