In a recent filing with the SEC, Tim Curro‘s Value Holdings LP disclosed its equity portfolio as of the end of the first quarter. The New York City-based hedge fund is of a relatively small size with an equity portfolio valued at $151.39 million. The majority of the fund’s holdings is represented by industrials and technology stocks. The fund follows a differentiated strategy from most other investment firms as it primarily invests in ‘small companies’ with strong fundamentals, and plenty of cash. This is evidenced by its top picks at the end of the first quarter, which included Global Payments Inc (NYSE:GPN), Total System Services, Inc. (NYSE:TSS), Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL), MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI), and Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE:THO).
Value Holdings is is one of over 700 hedge funds that we track at Insider Monkey. Through our research, we have formulated a portfolio strategy based on 15 most popular small cap picks of hedge funds. Back tests ranging from 1991 to 2012 revealed that this strategy outperformed the market by nearly a percentage point per month, while the most popular large cap picks of hedge funds underperformed the market by 7 basis points per month during the same period. In forward tests since August 2012 through March 2015 our small cap strategy beat the market by a hefty 79.4 percentage points (read the details here).
Value Holding’s second largest pick Global Payments Inc (NYSE:GPN), represented 10.34% of the portfolio value. The holding remained unchanged during the quarter with about 170,700 shares valued at $15.65 million. The Fortune 1000 company recently acquired Realex Payments, one of Europe’s largest payment solution providers for online businesses. According to Jeff Sloan, the company’s CEO, the acquisition will give Global Payments Inc (NYSE:GPN) the opportunity to expand its omni-channel technology solutions. Revenues of the company grew by 8% for the third quarter of the fiscal year to $666.85 million as compared to a year ago. Earnings per Share for the quarter also grew by 19% to $1.14. Furthermore, the company also announced an accelerated share repurchase program of up to $100 million, set to kick-off this month. Among the funds that we track, Larry Robbins‘ Glenview Capital held the largest stake in Global Payments Inc (NYSE:GPN) at the end of last year.
Second in line is Total System Services, Inc. (NYSE:TSS) with 351,706 shares valued at $13.41 million. The stock has appreciated by about 12.78% year to date. Value Holding’s second bet in the digital payments space is seeking to improve the cart abandonment rate for online shoppers, which currently amounts to over 70%. Total System Services, Inc. (NYSE:TSS) recently launched a new payment solution through its subsidiary ProPay, called MasterPass. The venture is a collaborative effort with Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) and allows users to enroll their cards, along with loyalty cards and shipping addresses, after which they can use any device to make purchases with much more ease. Total System Services, Inc. (NYSE:TSS) also sparked the interest of Ken Griffin, who held about 3.19 million shares valued at $108.41 million in his fund, Citadel Investment Group’s portfolio, at the end of 2014.
Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)‘s stake in Value Holdings’ portfolio amounted to 385,368 shares valued at $9.53 million. The stock of the industrials sector company is up by about 13.77% year to date. Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) is a provider of pest and termite control services and has a market capitalization of $5.5 billion. Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) recently acquired Critter Control, the largest wildlife control company in U.S that provides ecologically sound and humane wildlife control solutions. Robert Joseph Caruso’s Select Equity Group is the largest shareholder of the company, according to our database.
Another large bet in the industrials is MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI), but its stock didn’t perform as well as Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL), losing 1.7% year to date. Value Holdings held some 254,000 shares of the $1.91 billion company, valued at $8.59 million. The provider of instruments, which help to improve the performance of manufacturing processes has also earned the trust of Chuck Royce, as his fund Royce & Associates held some 6.74 million shares of MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) at the end of the fourth quarter.
Lastly, Value Holdings owned 124,580 shares of Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE:THO) valued at $7.88 million. Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management also has a stake in this manufacturer of recreational vehicles. Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE:THO) is up by 2.6% over the year. The company completed the acquisition of Cruiser RV, LLC and DRV, LLC recently. The impact of the acquisitions can be seen through the 34% expansion of Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE:THO)’s top line to $852.4 million for the second quarter of the fiscal year, as compared to a year ago.
Disclosure: None
