Billionaire Howard Marks’ Favorite Stock Picks For Q4

#3 Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Shares Owned by Oaktree Capital Management (as of September 30): 113.13 Million

Value of Holding (as of September 30): $231.92 Million

The stock of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) has undergone a massive slump this year, with the company having lost more than 80% of its market capitalization. However, Oaktree Capital Management, which owns more than 50% of the common stock of the company, doesn’t seem to have lost its faith in the it, as it didn’t make any changes to its stake in the company during the third quarter. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) is scheduled to report its third quarter results after the closing bell today and analysts expect it to report a per share loss of $0.09 on revenue of $62.58 million. On October 23, analysts at Jefferies Group reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating and $4 price target on the stock. Noam Gottesman‘s GLG Partners also continued to hold its stake of 3.0 million shares of Star Bulk Carriers Corp., which it acquired during the second quarter.

#2 Tribune Media Co (NYSE:TRCO)

Shares Owned by Oaktree Capital Management (as of September 30): 14.15 Million

Value of Holding (as of September 30): $503.58 Million

By not making any changes to its stake in Tribune Media Co (NYSE:TRCO) during the third quarter, Oaktree Capital Management continued to remain one of the largest shareholders of the company. Shares of Tribune Media Co (NYSE:TRCO) have nearly halved since mid-March and currently trade at a year-to-date loss of 37.54%. Recently, a report published by the Chicago Tribune quoted a high level source at Oaktree as saying that the fund doesn’t have any “particular time frame on our holding period for Tribune Publishing or Tribune Media, for that matter. On the other hand, as they get older, you are typically looking for opportunities to get out, all things being equal.” For the third quarter, Tribune Media Co reported EPS of $0.29 on revenue of $488.60 million versus analysts’ expectations of EPS of $0.29 on revenue of $493.76 million. John Griffin‘s Blue Ridge Capital sold off its entire stake of 2.76 million shares of the company during the third quarter.

#1 Store Capital Corp (NYSE:STOR)

Shares Owned by Oaktree Capital Management (as of September 30): 72.44 Million

Value of Holding (as of September 30): $1.49 Billion

The stock of internally managed net-lease real estate investment trust (REIT) Store Capital Corp (NYSE:STOR) has remained range-bound throughout 2015 and currently trades nearly flat for the year. With an ownership of 72.44 million shares or 57% of all common stock of the REIT at the end of the third quarter, Oaktree Capital Management remained the largest shareholder of the company. The REIT managed to beat earnings expectations for the third quarter by declaring EPS of $0.36 on revenue of $74.80 million. Following the earnings release, analysts at BMO Capital Markets reiterated their ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock and also upped their price target on it to $25 from $23. Ken Griffin‘s Citadel Investment Group reduced its stake in the REIT by 54% to over 1.5 million shares during the July-September period.

Disclosure: None