As we continue to track hedge funds’ SEC filings, we came across a few interesting transactions, into which we will look in this article. The companies here involved are all small and micro-cap businesses: Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST), Nordion Inc(USA) (NYSE:NDZ), Eastern Virginia Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVBS), and Aspen Group Inc (OTCBB:ASPU).
Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST) saw Brian Bares’ Bares Capital Management close out its position on September 10. The fund owned 2.46 million shares of Common Stock, worth more than $125 million, which made it the largest hedge fund shareholder of record –amongst those that we track- at the company. This place is now occupied by John Paulson’s Paulson & Co, which last disclosed ownership of 1.85 million shares of Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST), worth almost $100 million.
Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST) is a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of branded ready-to-eat cereals in the United States and Canada.
Matt Sirovich’s Scopia Capital also disclosed the closing of a position this week. A few days earlier, the fund had sold all of its shares of Nordion Inc(USA) (NYSE:NDZ), a global health science company. Before the disposal, de fund owned more than 5 million Common Shares, worth more than $63 million. This made it the second-largest hedge fund shareholder at Nordion Inc(USA) (NYSE:NDZ), only outranked by Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management which last declared holding 5.11 million shares of the company.
On the opposite sidewalk, Eastern Virginia Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVBS) felt a hedge fund’s bullishness. Emanuel J. Friedman’s EJF Capital boosted its exposure to the bank holding company by 18% last week, and now owns 595,940 shares of Common Stock. This position makes it the largest hedge fund shareholder of record at Eastern Virginia Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVBS), trailed by Matthew Lindenbaum’s Basswood Capital, which last disclosed ownership of 341,272 shares, worth more than $2 million.
Finally, there’s Aspen Group Inc (OTCBB:ASPU), a distance-learning education services provider that saw Benjamin J Taylor’s Sophrosyne Capital start a position with 11 million shares of Common Stock – worth more than $ 2.3 million at current stock prices – and Warrants (convertible into Common Stock as long as the fund’s beneficial ownership does not exceed 9.99% of the company’s outstanding shares). Sophrosyne’s position in Aspen Group Inc (OTCBB:ASPU) accounts for 9.67% of its outstanding Common Stock.
Another major fund holding shares of Aspen Group Inc (OTCBB:ASPU) is Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors, which recently disclosed a new passive stake of 11.24 million shares, which account for 9.99% of the company’s shares outstanding.
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any stocks or funds mentioned.