Emerging Sovereign Group Shuffles Top Positions In Bid To Recover Losses

Dumping Molson Coors

Kevin Kenny and his team have continued to reduce exposure to Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) during the quarter, having cut their stake by 18% to 1.27 million shares worth an estimated $128 million. As of the end of June, 57 of the funds in our database reported a stake in Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP), up from 52 recorded at the end of March. Billionaire Ken Griffin, on the other hand, is still bullish on the stock, having boosted his fund’s stake by 46% during the quarter. According to its latest 13F filing, Citadel Investment Group holds 2.28 million shares of Molson Coors, a position valued at $230 million. Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) has a market cap of $22 billion and pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share, which provides investors with a 1.59% yield. The stock is currently trading at a trailing Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio of 52, significantly higher than the industry average P/E of 8, as reported by Yahoo! Finance.

Nutrition Is A Big Deal Nowadays

Emerging Sovereign Group’s management team is still bullish on Mead Johnson Nutrition CO (NYSE:MJN) having further increased its stake in the company. According to its recent 13F filing, the fund held 1.45 million shares at the end of June, a position valued at $132 million. Hedge fund interest towards Mead Johnson Nutrition CO (NYSE:MJN) plummeted during the quarter, with the number of long bets having fallen to 28 at the end of June from 40 registered a quarter before. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had its stake reduced by 31% to 1.09 million shares worth $99.1 million at the end of the quarter. A manufacturer of children’’s nutrition and other nutritional products, Mead Johnson Nutrition CO (NYSE:MJN) is currently trading at $82.80 per share, up by 8% year-to-date. For the second quarter, the company posted a profit of $155.1 million, topping analysts’ profit forecasts. Mead Johnson reported $941.5 million in revenue and adjusted earnings of $0.88 per share, while analysts’ had projected $0.78 per share on the back of $958.9 million per share.

Yum! Still On Top

Despite another large cut in position, Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) is still the fund’s’ number one equity bet. After a 40% reduction in the first quarter, the management team further decreased its investment by a quarter to 1.61 million shares worth some $133 million. At the end of June, roughly 13% of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) common stock was held by 46 of the funds followed by Insider Monkey, down from 51 a quarter before. Among these funds, Keith Meister’s Corvex Capital held the largest stake in Yum! Brands: 21 million shares valued at $1.74 billion. Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) is the parent company of famous brands Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell. Earlier in August, the company announced a new franchise deal with its partners in Europe to open some 300 new restaurants in central and eastern Europe. The company is also looking to reduce the number of stores it owns in China and plans to spin-off its Chinese business into a separate public company in October, with the new entity to work on a franchise-based model.

Disclosure: none.