Notable value investor and billionaire Michael Price recently has revealed his equity portfolio as of the end of 2016 via a 13F filing submitted with the SEC. Mr. Price founded MFP Investors, his New York-based hedge fund, in 1998 after selling Heine Securities to Franklin Resources for $670 million in 1996. He started as a research assistant at Heine Securities in 1975 and by 1988 became the sole owner of the company. Heine Securities was considered one of the best fund management companies on the Street before it was acquired.
According to the latest 13F filing by Mr. Price, his equity portfolio at the end of 2016 was worth nearly $824.2 million and was well diversified across sectors. Being a value investor Mr. Price made only few changes in his portfolio during the fourth quarter, which resulted in his equity portfolio experiencing a quarterly turnover of only 18.80% during that time. In this post, we will take a look at the five major moves he made heading into 2017 and will discuss the individual performances of those stocks.
Michael Price of MFP Investors
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Cabelas Inc (NYSE:CAB)
– Shares Held By MFP Investors (as of December 31): 210,000
– Value of The Holding (as of December 31): $12.3 Million
Cabelas Inc (NYSE:CAB) was added to MFP Investors’ portfolio during the fourth quarter. Shares of the specialty retailer surged in late-September after Bass Pro, LLC announced that it would acquire the former for $5.5 billion or $65.50 per share. Although Cabelas Inc (NYSE:CAB)’s stock continued to trade above $60 mark for most part of the fourth quarter as a merger-arbitrage play, it has given up most of those gains this year amid skepticism that the deal won’t go through due to tough regulatory hurdles. Currently, Cabelas’s stock is trading near $45, which is a 33% discount to the offer made by Bass Pro and suggests a probability of only 40% of the deal going through. According to analysts at Stifel Nicolaus, the standalone value of Cabelas Inc (NYSE:CAB) is only $34.39 per share, which suggests the stock can drop by as much as 24% if the deal doesn’t go through.
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