Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc (NSM), American International Group Inc (AIG) & Fortress Investment Group’s Top 5 Stock Picks

Michael Novogratz is the manager of Fortress Investment Group, a hedge fund founded in 1998 by Wesley R. Edens, a former BlackRock Financial employee and managing director of UBS, Robert Kauffman and Randal A. Nardone. In the latest round of 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Fortress Investment Group disclosed its equity portfolio as of the end of the second quarter.

In first place is Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc (NYSE:NSM), in which the hedge fund disclosed ownership of about 67.8 million shares, down by about 7,000 shares over the quarter. The value of the stake amounted to $2.6 billion, which accounts for about a half of the total value of the hedge fund’s 13F portfolio. Since the beginning of the year, Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc (NYSE:NSM)’s stock has increased by almost 60%, and it trades at a forward P/E of 6.9x and a PEG ratio of 1.5.

After Nationstar, the next two places are held by Brookdale Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE:BKD) and American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG). The former is represented in the equity portfolio of Fortress Investment Group by 67.8 million shares, worth $465.2 million, with the position remaining unchanged over the quarter. In American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG), the hedge fund’s stake amounts to $284.7 million and contains almost 6.4 million shares, a decrease of 131,600 shares.

The year-to-date return of AIG’s stock is about 35.5% and it trades at a forward P/E of 11.0x. AIG is one of the most popular picks in the hedge fund world, with stars like Bruce Berkowitz, the manager of Fairholme, and Third Point‘s Dan Loeb among those bullish on AIG.

The fourth-largest stake from Fortress Investment Group’s equity portfolio involves 10.5 million shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD), with the value of the stake amounting to $184.6 million, down by 1.1 million shares compared with the first quarter. Last is Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), in which the hedge fund disclosed ownership of 63,464 shares, with the stake surging by 58,314 shares, and the current value of the stake totalling about $55.9 million.

Overall, the total value of the equity portfolio of Michael Novogratz’s Fortress Investment Group amounts to about $4 billion, down from the previous-quarter sum of $4.5 million. The portfolio contains 204 positions, with over 100 representing new purchases and almost 40 sold out.

Disclosure: none

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