Horseman Capital Is Betting Big On The Financial Sector

Let’s move on to Horseman Capital’s second top pick heading into the third quarter, Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF). After increasing its stake by 34% during the first quarter, the fund added another 220,100 shares of the financial services company to its portfolio during the second quarter, taking its total stake to 636,200 shares which were worth almost $56 million at the end of June. Shares of Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF) fell heavily on July 24 following its second quarter earnings miss revealed the day before. The company posted EPS of $1.78 for the second quarter, which came well below the consensus analysts’ estimate of  $1.97, as well as the $2.04 in EPS it reported for the same quarter of last year. On July 23 along with the earnings report, the company also announced that it would be laying off an unspecified number of employees in several states , the majority of whom work in the IT services domain. Thomas E. Claugus‘ GMT Capital initiated a large stake in Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF) during the first quarter, purchasing over 2.28 million shares during that time.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was Horseman Capital’s third top stock pick at the end of June. The fund increased its stake in the investment banking giant by 57% during the second quarter to 241,500 shares valued at almost $50.5 million. The company recently reported a 49% year-over-year decline in its second quarter earnings owing to the high legal costs it incurred during the quarter related to the potential settlement of mortgage-related cases against it. Excluding the high litigation expense, its EPS of $4.75 came in above consensus estimates of  $3.96. Of the 28 leading analysts that cover the stock, 21 have a ‘Hold’ rating on it. Two of the largest shareholders of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), Lansdowne Partners, managed by Alex Snow, and Edgar Wachenheim’s Greenhaven Associates both increased their stake in the investment bank during the January-March quarter, by 13% and 11% respectively.

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