Hillshire Brands Co (HSH), And The Rest Of $6 Billion Hedge Fund Carlson Capital’s Small Cap Picks

According to the 13F, the fund cut its stake in EPL Oil & Gas Inc (NYSE:EPL) by 7% to 3.4 million shares. The oil and gas exploration and production company, which develops offshore oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico, has been another strong performer in the stock market over the last year: it has risen 96% in that time, and currently carries a market cap of $1.3 billion. This places it at trailing and forward P/Es of 21 and 8, respectively, as the sell-side is expecting earnings to improve considerably over the next couple of years.

Carlson was a buyer of Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE:SWC), which is primarily a producer of industrial metals such as palladium and platinum, per the filing. In the fourth quarter of 2012, revenue fell 22% versus a year earlier and net income was down by 13%. Stillwater is highly dependent on macro factors- the stock’s beta is 2.8- and with the valuation not looking too great in terms of trailing earnings short sellers hold 19% of the float short. Platinum Asset Management, managed by billionaire Kerr Neilson, had Stillwater as one if its ten largest holdings at the beginning of this year (find Platinum’s favorite stocks).

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.