Here Are The Changes Paulson & Co. Made To Its Portfolio To Recover After a Bad 2016

American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG)

– Shares Held By Paulson & Co. (as of December 31): 4.81 Million

– Value of The Holding (as of December 31): $314.1 Million

Paulson & Co.’s large stake in American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) and Mr. Paulson’s crusade against the company’s top-management has been widely covered by the media for the past two years. As a result of that crusade, last year American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) agreed to make several changes which included appointing Mr. Paulson as one of directors on its Board and launching a massive capital return program. However, the fund became less bullish on the company while entering 2017. Paulson & Co.’s decision to reduce its stake in the insurance giant by 46% during the fourth quarter seems to be a great move in retrospect considering that American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG)’s stock has tanked more than 10% since it reported its fourth quarter numbers on February 14. While analysts had expected AIG to report EPS of $1.18, it declared a a loss of $2.72 per share for the quarter. Nevertheless, along with the results the company also announced that it would increase the authorization of its repurchase program by $3.5 billion.

Extended Stay America Inc (NYSE:STAY)

– Shares Held By Paulson & Co. (as of December 31): 28.63 Million

– Value of The Holding (as of December 31): $455.41 Million

Though Paulson & Co. lowered its holding in Extended Stay America Inc (NYSE:STAY) by 24% during the fourth quarter, the company still managed to jump two spots in the fund’s portfolio during that period and was its sixth largest holding at the end of December. Extended Stay America Inc (NYSE:STAY)’s stock performed well during the fourth quarter and is again up 7.86% for 2017. On January 24, Barclays’ analysts Venu Krishna and his team released a list of 16 small- and mid-cap stocks with attractive risk/reward scenario under the Trump administration, which included Extended Stay America Inc (NYSE:STAY) as one of the picks. Earlier this month, while reiterating its ‘Buy’ rating on the stock Barclays PLC also set a $22 price target on it, suggesting a potential upside of 26.2%.

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