Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc (KW) Just Got A New (Old) Activist Investor

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc (NYSE:KW) has enjoyed a particularly strong last couple of weeks, gaining more than 10% since January 21, even as analysts have exhibited caution. Zacks downgraded Kennedy-Wilson to ‘Neutral’ on January 14, while Deutsche Bank cut their price target on the stock to $35.00 in a note to investors on January 26, though that still represents a premium of 25% above current trading levels, and they still had a ‘Buy’ rating on the stock.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of its strong push over the last few years has been Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, which purchased 5.17 million shares in the third quarter of 2012, when it was trading around the $14.00 market. Now worth twice as much, Royce still has a huge investment in Kennedy-Wilson, with ownership of 7.97 million shares as of September 30. Other large investors at present include Alan S. Parsow’s Elkhorn Partners with 3.72 million shares, and Seawolf Capital, managed by Porter Collins, Daniel Moses, and Vincent Daniel, which had 803,110 shares.

In their latest earnings report issued on November 5, the Beverly Hills, California-based real-estate and investment services company, reported earnings per share of $0.34 for the third quarter of 2014, walloping analysts estimates of a $0.19 per share loss. Those earnings came courtesy revenue that was up 242.5% from the same year-ago quarter, to $113.70 million. The consensus estimate had predicted just $83.40 million.

With Canada’s Warren Buffett now taking a big interest in Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc (NYSE:KW) again (and being in the process of having another chosen member elected to their board), we expect continued big things from this company that continues to outperform expectations.

Disclosure: None