Jeffrey Gates Looking For Small-Cap Success At The Blackjack Table, In Air Ducts, And Within Natural Ingredients

Another noteworthy move completed by Gates Capital Management was the sale of a small part of its stake in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR). Gates’ hedge fund reported selling 2.85 million shares of the company during the first quarter, decreasing its stake to 14.26 million shares valued at $199.78 million. Although the stock of the company has slumped by over 13% since the beginning of the year, the share price might move higher as the company has been delivering strong financial performance lately. Specifically, Darling Ingredients reported earnings per share of $0.09 for its fiscal first quarter of 2015, beating Wall Street expectations of $0.07 per share. However, the company reported that its revenues dropped by 7.6% year-over-year to $874.69 million, failing to meet the analysts’ estimates of $900.34 million. Ricky Sandler’s Eminence Capital is the second-largest shareholder of Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) in our database, owning 6.24 million shares valued at $87.48 million, trailing only Gates’ hedge fund, which was again the largest.

Gates increased his stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI) to 4.88 million shares valued at $179.89 million, an increase of 953,752 shares. The stock has skyrocketed by over 25% year-to-date and there is nothing that indicates any troubles for the company along its way. There have been rumors circulating that Gaming and Leisure Properties intends to purchase the properties of Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:PNK), which might indicate that the company is seeking opportunities to grow and develop its current gaming facilities portfolio. As Pinnacle owns as many as 15 casinos throughout the United States, Gaming and Leisure Properties can only benefit from the above-rumored deal. Michael Novogratz’s Fortress Investment Group is indisputably the largest shareholder in Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI) in our database, holding around 10.50 million shares worth $387.16 million as of March 31.

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