Senator Investment Sees Something In These New Non-Merger Arbitrage Picks

During the second quarter Senator Investment acquired some 18.0 million shares of Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST) valued at $356.94 million. The holding represents 3.11% of the fund’s portfolio and 2.38% of the company’s outstanding shares. After the $14.53 billion REIT missed the top line estimates while meeting FFO expectations in its second quarter financial results, Credit Suisse downgraded Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST) to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’. The firm doesn’t see any near-term catalysts for the company, which it believes ‘will continue to suffer from renovation displacement, softer results in NYC, international overhang and earnings drag from net dispositions’. Jeffrey Furber‘s AEW Capital Management trimmed its holding in Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST) by 1% during the March-June period, to 6.31 million shares valued at $125.05 million.

Senator Investment initiated a position in Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) of 4.0 million shares valued at $220.96 million, representing 1.92% of its portfolio. So far this year Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C)’s stock has climbed by about 6.45%, compared to the 4.11% gains for the Global Banks industry during the same period. The $172.37 billion financial services company managed to beat both the top and bottom line estimates in its financial results for the June quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management increased its stake in Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) by 1% during the second quarter to 11.83 million shares valued at $653.22 million.

Disclosure: None