Big Investment in Avon Products, Inc. (AVP) and Four Other Picks Send Barington Capital’s Returns Through the Roof

Then there’s Eastern Co (NASDAQ:EML), in which Barington reported a stake containing 525,605 shares as of the end of June. Since Eastern has a market cap of just $121 million, it was not included in our calculations of the fund’s returns, but, nevertheless, the stock returned over 20% during the third quarter. Due to the company’s small size, only five funds tracked by our team were bullish on Eastern Co (NASDAQ:EML) heading into the third quarter, including Mario Gabelli, which reported a $7.4 million stake.  Other members of the smart money that are bullish on Eastern Co (NASDAQ:EML) encompass Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and Charles Frumberg’s Emancipation Capital.

In OMNOVA Solutions Inc. (NYSE:OMN), Mitarotonda’s fund amassed 971,825 shares at the end of the second quarter. OMNOVA is another small-cap stock in Barington’s equity portfolio and it advanced by 16% in the third quarter. Overall, 10 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock at the end of June, a change of 25% over the quarter. Laurion Capital Management, led by Benjamin A. Smith, held the number one position in OMNOVA Solutions Inc. (NYSE:OMN), having amassed a $9.4 million position in the stock. GAMCO Investors also reported an $8.8-million stake in its 13F filing for the second quarter. Among the funds that initiated stakes in OMNOVA was Hutchin Hill Capital, managed by Neil Chriss, which had initiated the most outsized position in OMNOVA Solutions Inc. (NYSE:OMN) and had $0.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.

Disclosure: none