Billionaire Stephen Mandel and Insiders Like American International Group Inc (AIG) And More

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA), a $6.2 billion market cap cosmetics and associated products retailer, was another common pick between Lone Pine and at least one company insider. Once again we have a stock which carries a premium valuation: the forward earnings multiple here is 23. Ulta Salon recently popped 10% after reporting a positive earnings surprise for its most recent fiscal quarter (the first quarter of its fiscal year, ending in April). Brookside Capital, a hedge fund which is part of the Bain Capital alternative asset management family, disclosed ownership of 1.7 million shares as of the beginning of April.

Mandel and his team reported a position of 7.3 million shares of American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG), which an insider purchased 10,000 shares of in May at an average price of $45.20 per share. American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) lost its place as the most popular stock among hedge funds to Apple last quarter, falling to the #3 slot in our top ten list (find more of hedge funds’ favorite stocks). The insurer trades at a discount to the book value of its equity, with a P/B ratio of 0.7, and while we wouldn’t expect that figure to rise to 1 anytime soon due to poor sentiment it does suggest there is at least some upside potential for American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG).

Two members of Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF)’s Board of Directors bought shares of the stock at the end of April, while Lone Pine closed the first quarter of this year with 5.1 million shares in its portfolio. Capital One is another financial stock with a P/B a bit below 1, and we’d note that it’s also arguably in value territory in earnings terms as well: the trailing and forward P/E multiples are 12 and 9, respectively. However, earnings declined last quarter compared to the first quarter of 2012. Billionaire Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global is another major shareholder in Capital One (see more stocks Viking Global likes).

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.