Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc (NYSE:RHP) represents Mr. Gabelli’s second-largest equity position with 5.01 million shares valued at $305.23 million. With a market cap of $2.90 billion, Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc (NYSE:RHP) is Mr. Gabelli’s largest bet in the small-cap space. Moreover, Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc (NYSE:RHP) is one of GAMCO’s long-term investments, while its stock appreciated by 67% in the last three years. The company also plans to pay an annual dividend of $2.60 in 2015, which gives it a yield of around 4.80%, one of the highest among hotel Real Estate Investment Trusts. David Shaw and Ken Griffin are two other billionaires with long positions in Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc (NYSE:RHP), according to their latest 13F filings.
In Bank of New York Mellon Corp (NYSE:BK), GAMCO Investors disclosed holding 6.56 million shares, worth $264.10 million. During the first quarter, Mr. Gabelli added around 84,000 shares of the company, which represents the only addition made during this period among GAMCO’s top positions. One of the reasons Mr. Gabelli and other investors are bullish on Bank of New York Mellon Corp (NYSE:BK) is the recent involvement of two activists that try to increase the shareholder value of the company. On one side, there is Richard McGuire of Marcato Capital Management, who considers that Bank of New York Mellon Corp (NYSE:BK) needs a reshuffle of its top management team and a reduction of workforce, among other things. On the other side stands Nelson Peltz of Trian Partners, who considers that the bank needs to spin-off its custody business.
In asset management company Legg Mason Inc (NYSE:LM), GAMCO owns 4.72 million shares, valued at $260.79 million. The stock of the $6.1 billion company had a strong run over the last 52 weeks, gaining 18%, slightly beating the Asset Management industry average of 15.60%. Legg Mason Inc (NYSE:LM) also has Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners among its top shareholders with 12.89 million shares as of the end of 2014. Billionaires Andreas Halvorsen, Ken Griffin and David Harding also disclosed long positions in the company in their latest 13F filings.
GAMCO’s stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) is the fifth-largest, having a value of $245.20 million and containing 3.14 million shares. The largest shareholder of American Express is Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which owns 151.61 million shares. Despite the stock dropping by more than 16% since the beginning of the year, Mr. Buffett said last week at the Berkshire annual shareholder meeting that he is still likes American Express Company (NYSE:AXP). Moreover, American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) has been recently upgraded by Sanford Bernstein to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’, although over the last several months the stock witnessed a series of downgrades, which lowered its consensus rating to ‘Hold’.
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