Christian Leone Cashing In On CONN’S, Inc. (CONN)’s Success

So why are investors so enthusiastic about CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN)’s prospects? Firstly, although disappointing, the first quarter EPS still beat the estimates by $0.03. Secondly, the same-store sales figures are beginning to look much better as well. For the month of May, the furniture and mattress segment saw an increase of 6.3% compared to the same month last year, while home appliances registered a bump of 10.9%. Moreover, just this month the company announced that it is actively pursuing the sale of all or part of its loan portfolio and has enlisted professional advisers to facilitate the process. Although CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) didn’t provide any specific timetable for the deal, it expects the sale to happen during this quarter or early next quarter according to CEO Theodore Wright. The operating loss from the segment amounted to $8.5 million in the first quarter.

The interest of hedge funds in CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) declined over the first quarter as a total of 20 firms had an aggregate investment of $689.57 million at the end of it as compared to 26 funds with $313.51 million at the start of it. Ken Griffin‘s famous managed futures fund Citadel Investment Group and renowned activist David Einhorn‘s Greenlight Capital are two prominent stockholders of CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) with respective stakes of 2.43 million shares valued at $73.69 million and 3.56 million shares valued at $107.88 million.

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