Blue Harbour Group Boosts Position in Rowan Companies PLC (RDC)

Blue Harbour Group, managed by Clifton S. Robbins is bullish on Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC). A new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that Blue Harbour Group holds 8.03 million class A ordinary shares, up from 840,938 shares the fund disclosed in its latest 13F filing. The new position is equal to 6.5% of the class.

Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC)

Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC) is a global provider of international and domestic contract drilling services in the ultra-deepwater and shallow water jack-up market, and has a market cap of $3.92 billion. For the first quarter of 2014, the company reported net income from continuing operations of $55.6 million, or $0.45 per share, compared to $68.1 million, or $0.55 per share in the first quarter of 2013. Its revenues were $377.6 million in the first quarter, which is 4% down from the prior-year quarter due primarily to slightly lower utilization, according to a statement.

For the second quarter and full-year of 2014, Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC) expects jack-up out-of-service time to be about 13% and 9-10%, respectively, the company reported last week.

Aside from Blue Harbour Group, First Pacific Advisors LLC, run by Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick, disclosed ownership of 4.39 million shares of the company, and Harris Associates holds 2.94 million shares, according to our record. Another important investor is Magnetar Capital, managed by Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser, which revealed owning 2.65 million shares of the company.

Blue Harbour is primarily investing in activist situations since its founding in 2004. The fund has more than $1 billion under management and outperformed the S&P 500 in 2012. As of the end of the first quarter of 2014, the value of the fund’s equity portfolio was $1.85 billion. Recently, the fund reported trimming its position in CACI International Inc. (NYSE:CACI), selling 123,000 shares in three transactions, at prices between $69.43 and $70.05 per unit. Following this move, the fund is left holding 2.34 million shares of the company.

Disclosure: none