Canyon Capital’s Latest Move in Clear Channel (CCO) & Its Other New Picks

A stake in CDK Global Inc (NASDAQ:CDK) was Canyon Capital’s largest new position of the fourth quarter. CDK was a popular stock among funds we track, with 36 investors initiating positions in the company during the quarter, which was shortly after its IPO in late September. Canyon Capital is one of the top shareholders among funds we track with 1.75 million shares valued at $71.15 million. The largest new position went to Jeffrey Tannenbaum’s Fir Tree, which obtained 14.15 million shares during the quarter.

The new company attracted the interest of activist investors immediately, with Scott Ferguson’s Sachem Head Capital taking a 15.80 million shares activist position by the end of October and expressing his intentions to have a dialogue with the management of the company, which he expressed as being undervalued. CDK Global Inc (NASDAQ:CDK), which was previously a division within Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) that provided information technology services to auto dealers, has had an extremely successful run since its IPO, gaining close to 50% in less than six months.

Vivint Solar Inc (NYSE:VSLR) is another company which Canyon Capital took a large new position during the last quarter. The 1.97 million shares stake was valued at $18.12 million, and made Canyon the second largest shareholder among funds from our database, trailing only Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group that owns 2.35 million share stake. Vivint Solar Inc (NYSE:VSLR) is another company which had its IPO at the beginning of October, though the interest was more muted than it was with CDK, with nine funds opening new positions during the quarter.

The solar energy company, which provides solar energy systems to residential clients is bound to have its work cut out for it in a burgeoning field of solar contenders, that includes a number of solar companies (among which are some companies that investors love), including SunEdison Inc (NYSE:SUNE). After a very rough fourth quarter in which shares fell by over 40%, Vivint Solar has rebounded 22% this year on the strength of its most recent quarterly report in February, when it revealed rapidly decreasing costs and vastly increased bookings, which pleased investors.

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