Billionaire Wilbur Ross’ Top Stock Picks and Notable Moves

WL Ross & Co.’s Second-Largest Position: Sun Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:SNBC)

– Number of shares owned by WL Ross & Co. as of March 31: 4.26 Million

– Value of WL Ross & Co.’s holding as of March 31: $88.14 Million

WL Ross & Co. had 4.26 million shares of Sun Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:SNBC) in its pool of holdings at the end of the first quarter of 2016. The 4.26 million-share position was valued at $88.14 million and made up 15.7% of the firm’s portfolio. The shares of the holding company for Sun National Bank are nearly flat year-to-date, but they are up 10% in the past 12 months. The company reported net income of $0.8 million for the first quarter of 2016, which marked the fifth consecutive profitable quarter for the bank. The first-quarter bottom-line figure compares to net income of $1.6 million recorded for the final quarter of 2015 and $2.8 million reported for the March quarter of 2015. A mere six hedge funds from our system had Sun Bancorp shares in their portfolios at the end of the March quarter, which stockpiled 30% of the bank’s shares. Anton Schutz’s Mendon Capital Advisors owns nearly 144,000 shares of Sun Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:SNBC) as of March 31.

WL Ross & Co.’s Largest Position: Navigator Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NVGS)

– Number of shares owned by WL Ross & Co. as of March 31: 21.86 Million

– Value of WL Ross & Co.’s holding as of March 31: $353.10 Million

Navigator Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NVGS) was the largest holding within WL Ross & Co.’s portfolio at the end of March, accounting for a whopping 62.3% of the firm’s portfolio. The 21.86 million shares of Navigator owned on March 31 were aggregately worth $353.10 million at quarter-end. The owner and operator of the world’s largest fleet of handysize liquefied gas carriers has seen its market valued climb by nearly 3% since the start of 2016. The company’s fleet consists of 38 vessels, including seven newbuilding vessels scheduled for delivery by mid-2017. Navigator’s operating revenue for the first quarter of 2016 was $76.4 million, up $2.2 million year-on-year. The increase was mainly driven by a higher weighted average number of vessels, partly offset by a decrease in fleet utilization due to softening market conditions and the impact of the collision of Navigator Aries in June 2015. Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital LP owned 1.07 million shares of Navigator Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NVGS) at the end of March.

Disclosure: None