Can Future Acquisitions Or The Sale Of WMware Save EMC Corporation (EMC), One Of Ahmet Okumus’ New, Underperforming Picks?

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During the first quarter, Ahmet Okumus built a stake in Ascent Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASCMA) by purchasing 157,163 shares with a value of $6.26 million at the end of the quarter. Ascent Capital Group Inc, which was founded by a three-way merger in 1999 has also been having a rough spring on the NASDAQ, losing 20.46% of its stock value. In May, Ascent Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASCMA) posted its earnings for the first quarter, beating analysts’ expectations by $0.07 in the process, though still reporting a loss of $0.81 per share. Analysts are now estimating a comparable loss for the second quarter. A stake in the company was also created by Francis Chou, who bought 140,000 shares with a value of $5.57 million for his fund Chou Associates Management. The home security alarm company Monitronics International Inc., is a fully owned subsidiary of Ascent Capital Group, with operations in U.S, Canada and Puerto Rico.

The food, fuel and feed ingredients company Darling Ingredients Inc (NYSE:DAR) was also added to the public equity portfolio of Ahmet Okumus during the first quarter. 77,879 shares with a value of $1.09 million as of March 31 was the purchase, a small one in comparison to his top new pick in particular. Darling Ingredients Inc (NYSE:DAR), founded in 1882, is yet another company with struggling shares in 2015, with them down by 15.09% year-to-date. The growth in revenue is appealing however, as Darling Ingredients reported an increase of 133.3% in its revenue for the first quarter compared to the same quarter the year before. Indeed, the earnings for the first quarter were also better than the year before. Analysts however say that the stock is expensive compared to its peers and has too low of a profit margin to be ranked any better than a “Hold” at this time. Hedge fund manager Steve Cohen representing Point72 Asset Managemente apparently not agree or is taking a very long view of the company, as he increased his stake by 218% to 5.08 million shares during the first quarter.

Disclosure: None

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