Billionaire Dan Loeb’s Top Small-Cap Picks: Sothebys (BID), Third Point Reinsurance Ltd (TPRE), and Intrexon Corp (XON)

Third Point mistakenly disclosed a stake in its property and casualty reinsurance subsidiary Third Point Reinsurance Ltd (NYSE:TPRE), a position of almost 9.18 million shares of the company during the first quarter. The hedge fund amended the 13F filing and removed the $129.9 million position from its list of holdings because Third Point didn’t invest in TPRE; Dan Loeb did as part of his personal portfolio. For the first quarter of 2015, Third Point Reinsurance Ltd (NYSE:TPRE) reported net income of $50.5 million, significantly above the $39.8 million that it reported for the first quarter of 2014. Most analysts on the Street have an ‘Overweight’ rating on the stock, with an average price target of $17.50. Additionally, the consensus estimate among analysts is that the company will declare an EPS of $2.20 for fiscal year 2015. Brian Ashford-Russell And Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group are other hedge funds that have a substantial stake in Third Point Reinsurance Ltd (NYSE:TPRE).

Third Point liquidated 200,000 shares of Intrexon Corp (NYSE:XON) in the first quarter, reducing its stake to 2.70 million shares valued at $122.50 million, though Intrexon Corp (NYSE:XON) remains a top three small-cap pick of the fund and the position actually increased greatly in value despite the sale of shares. That’s due to Intrexon Corp (NYSE:XON)’s shares spiking by over 50% during the first quarter, thus Third Point selling some shares should be seen more as profit booking than anything else. For the first quarter of 2015, the biotech company reported an EPS of $0.25. However, analysts expect the company to report an EPS loss of $0.13 for the second quarter. Among the hedge funds we track, David Cohen and Harold Levy’s Iridian Asset Management is also bullish on Intrexon Corp (NYSE:XON). The fund increased its stake in the company by 18% to 1.81 million shares in the quarter ending March 31.

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