Ian Cumming, Joseph Steinberg and Leucadia National’s Biggest Equity Stakes Include Cowen Group, Inc. (COWN)

The U.S.-headquartered holding company, Leucadia National, holds several assets in companies from various sectors, from mining to banking. Its executives Ian Cumming and Joseph Steinberg each own about 10% of the company’s common stock.

In general, it’s important to track the activity of skilled hedge funds and other prominent investors, and Leucadia definitely fits the bill.

The largest stake in the 13F portfolio of Leucadia National is represented by INTL Fcstone Inc (NASDAQ:INTL). The firm owns over 1.6 million shares, worth about $28.2 million. The position in INTL Fcstone Inc (NASDAQ: INTL) has remained unchanged since the end of 2012. The stock of INTL Fcstone Inc (NASDAQ:INTL) has a year-to-date return of almost 9% and a P/E near 13. Aside from Leucadia, four other hedge funds were invested in the company during the first quarter, including Royce & Associates managed by Chuck Royce and Brian Bares‘ Bares Capital Management.

The second position in the equity portfolio of Cumming/Steinberg is held by Cowen Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:COWN). Leucadia owns about 3 million shares, worth $8.5 million. In addition to Leucadia, Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies, D. E. Shaw‘s D E Shaw, as well as another 11 hedge funds disclosed ownership of Cowen Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:COWN) as of the end of March. The stock of Cowen Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:COWN) has a YTD return of almost 38%.

In Q1, Leucadia National sold off its stake in Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE:JEF), which contained over 58 million shares. With only two positions, the value of the firm’s equity portfolio is $36.7 million.

Disclosure: none