In a 13G filing on Western Refining Inc. (NYSE:WNR), investment management firm D.E. Shaw & Co., founded by David E. Shaw, disclosed a 5.1% ownership stake in the company consisting of 4.88 million shares. This marks an increase of 593,511 shares of the fund’s position in the crude oil refiner compared to the stake disclosed in the latest 13F filing.
D. E. Shaw & Co. is a quantitative hedge fund founded by billionaire David E. Shaw in 1988 with seed capital of $28 million. The fund’s primary trading method is computer-driven, based on proprietary computational methodologies developed and implemented by David Shaw and his team. David Shaw is no longer actively involved in the fund’s day-to-day operations, but still remains engaged in some higher-level strategic decisions. The New York-based investment management firm has grown considerably under the stewardship of David Shaw, currently managing more than $37 billion in assets under management. The hedge fund focuses its investing approach on advanced and detailed techniques to profit from pricing anomalies and patterns across a wide range of asset classes. At the moment, the investment management firm is overseen by Louis Salkind, who was among the first ones joining the firm. According to its 13F filing, D. E. Shaw & Co. manages a large public equity portfolio worth $65.29 billion, with the top ten holdings accounting for only 10.68% of its entire portfolio.
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Western Refining Inc. (NYSE:WNR) is an independent crude oil refiner and marketer of refined products headquartered in El Paso, Texas. The company also operates service stations and convenience stores. Put differently, Western Refining operates in two business segments: refining and retail. The company’s refining segment operates two refineries that generate an output of approximately 151,000 barrels of crude oil per day. In addition to that, Western Refining serves as the general partner and owns approximately 66% of the limited partnership interest in Western Refining Logistics LP (NYSE:WNRL), but also serves as the general partner of Northern Tier Energy LP (NYSE:NTI) with 38% of the limited partnership interest. The shares of Western Refining have grown by 16% since the beginning of the current year, but analysts believe there is more upside potential for the company.
