Stocks Sold in Q3

Alleghany Corporation (NYSE:Y)

– Shares Sold During Q3: 70,805

– Q4 Return (through November 18): -6.95%

Avenue Capital’s $40.71 million position in Alleghany Corporation (NYSE:Y) was the largest one unloaded by the fund in Q3 and may have been prompted by the stock’s strong 13.5% gains during the quarter, which pushed it to all-time highs. Avenue Capital had owned the stock since 2011, when shares traded for less than half their current value.

Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (NYSE:ARCO)

– Shares Sold During Q3: 971,150

– Q4 Return (through November 18): +26.56%

Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (NYSE:ARCO) may be the only stock that’s posted gains in Q4 (well, maybe there’s two or three others), jumping by an impressive 26.56%. While Avenue Capital misses out on those gains, it was a shareholder of the McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) franchisee throughout 2016 and 2017, when shares more than tripled in value. While ARCO was owned by just 18 hedge funds, McDonald’s was the most popular restaurant stock among hedge funds.

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (NYSE:DB)

– Shares Sold During Q3: 322,000

– Q4 Return (through November 18): -23.50%

Avenue Capital gets out of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (NYSE:DB) ahead of a Q4 that has seen the finance sector slide into a bear market. While just nine of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long Deutsche Bank on September 30, the amount they had invested in the stock doubled during Q3 to $1.42 billion.

Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM)

– Shares Sold During Q3: 187,411

– Q4 Return (through November 18): -18.76%

Avenue Capital also unloaded investment firm Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM) from its 13F portfolio during the third quarter, a period in which the asset manager paid $34 million to the SEC to resolve charges that it tried to bribe the Libyan government.

Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC)

– Shares Sold During Q3: 568,463

– Q4 Return (through November 18): -17.92%

Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC) is the only stock on this list in which Avenue Capital did not sell out of completely during Q3, instead unloading 30% of its holding. Tejon Ranch’s farming revenue jumped by $3.2 million in Q3 following a record pistachio yield of 4 million pounds. That’s a lot of pistachios. The company is also in the process of developing four master planned communities on its 270,000 acres of land in California, in addition to other commercial activities.

Disclosure: None