Post Holdings Inc (POST), Nordion Inc(USA) (NDZ), Eastern Virginia Bankshares, Inc. (EVBS), Aspen Group Inc (ASPU) Witnessing Hedge Fund Activity

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.

Hedge Fund Managers

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.