RIMA Senvest Grows Even More Bullish On Top Holdings

#3 Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (USA) (NASDAQ:TSEM)

 – Shares Owned by RIMA Senvest Management (as of March 31): 6.62 million

 – Value of Holding (as of March 31): $80.28 million

Despite RIMA Senvest increasing its stake in the company by 9% during the first quarter, Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (USA) (NASDAQ:TSEM) lost its spot as the fund’s largest equity holding, dropping to third as of March 31. Shares of the semiconductor manufacturer have recently been trending up, narrowing their year-to-date loss to 6.3%. For the first quarter, the company moved away from its unconventional practice of reporting earnings by GAAP standards, reporting depreciation and amortization in non-GAAP numbers for the first time, which was appreciated by analysts. On May 31, the company reported that it has received binding commitments from institutional investors to invest $100 million in its Series G bonds. The proceeds from this bond offering will be used to repay the $78 million loans it has with Israeli banks. Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP initiated a stake in Tower Semiconductor Ltd. during the first quarter, purchasing 589,128 shares of the company.

#2 Northstar Realty Finance Corp (NYSE:NRF)

 – Shares Owned by RIMA Senvest Management (as of March 31): 6.18 million

 – Value of Holding (as of March 31): $81.13 million

Moving on, RIMA Senvest upped its stake in Northstar Realty Finance Corp (NYSE:NRF) by 47% during the first quarter. After falling significantly at the beginning of the year, Northstar Realty Finance Corp (NYSE:NRF)’s stock has been trading in the $12-to-$14 range for the past three months. Despite the company reporting better than expected first quarter results last month, its stock has failed to break through that range and currently trades down by 19.16% year-to-date. On May 6, Northstar Realty Finance Corp, its manager NorthStar Asset Management Group Inc (NYSE:NSAM) (in which RIMA Senvest is also invested), and private equity firm Colony Capital announced that they are working on a tri-party, all-stock deal which will combine all three entities. On June 1, analysts at FBR & Co. downgraded Northstar Realty Finance’s stock to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ and also lowered their price target on it to $12.75 from $18.00. Thomas Ellis and Todd Hammer’s North Run Capital also increased its stake in the company during the first quarter, by 8% to 2.65 million shares.

#1 Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE:DECK)

 – Shares Owned by RIMA Senvest Management (as of March 31): 1.5 million

 – Value of Holding (as of March 31): $89.61 million

Finally, the 27% rise in Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE:DECK)’s stock during the first quarter coupled with RIMA Senvest increasing its stake in the company by 7% during the period propelled Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE:DECK) to the top spot in the fund’s equity portfolio as of the end of March. Although Deckers Outdoor’s stock gave up a large part of its first quarter gains in May, it is still trading up by over 12% year-to-date. On May 26, the company reported its first quarter financial figures, declaring EPS of $0.11 on revenue of $378.60 million, topping analysts’ expectations of EPS of $0.06 on revenue of $362.54 million. Following the earnings release, analysts at Brean Capital reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating on the stock on May 27, but lowered their price target on it to $58 from $67. Other funds that upped their stake in the company during the first quarter included Chuck Royce‘s Royce & Associates, which increased its holding by 18% to 1.03 million shares.

Disclosure: None