Steelhead Partners Dumping Resolute Forest Products Inc (RFP)

Steelhead Partners, managed by Michael Johnston, continues to cut its exposure to Resolute Forest Products Inc (NYSE:RFP). According to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Steelhead Partners recently sold 217,600 common stock shares of Resolute Forest Products Inc (NYSE:RFP) at an average price of around $16.4 per share in multiple transactions. Following the sale, Steelhead Partners owns 11.93 million Resolute Forest Products Inc (NYSE:RFP) shares, down from 12.15 million shares the fund held previously.

Washington-based Steelhead Partners was founded by Scott Schaefer and Michael Johnston in late 1996. Previous to founding Steelhead, Johnston had worked at Prudential Insurance and Loews Corporation, where Scott Schaefer worked as well. Steelhead Partners usually uses contrarian investment strategies. According to its own website, Steelhead’s “investment style is characterized by finding names that are out-of-favor and under-followed by Wall Street,” which have consistently led it to opportunities with exceptional risk/reward profiles. According to its latest 13F filing, the fund holds an equity portfolio worth more than $1.18 billion, with a strong focus on technology stocks.

As of the end of the third quarter of 2014, Steelhead Partners reported holding 12.58 million shares of Resolute Forest Products Inc (NYSE:RFP), equal to 16.69% of the fund’s portfolio. Resolute Forest Products Inc (NYSE:RFP), Globalstar Inc. (NYSEMKT:GSAT), Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE:LVLT) were the Steelhead Partners’ top three holding for the third quarter. In Globalstar Inc. (NYSEMKT:GSAT) and Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE:LVLT), the fund held 30.85 million shares and 2.06 million shares, respectively.

Last year, Steelhead Partners sold a number of Resolute Forest Products Inc (NYSE:RFP) shares in several transactions. In October 2014, the fund reported selling 102,917 shares of the company, bringing its stake to 12.15 million shares. In the second week of October, the fund disclosed selling over 227,000 shares of Resolute Forest Products Inc (NYSE:RFP) at an average price of $16.19 per share in several tranches on October 3, 6 and 7. In the beginning of the second quarter of 2014, Steelhead Partners reported the sale of 247,346 shares in seven transactions at prices varying between $19.75 and $20.00 apiece.