The Procter & Gamble Company (PG), Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (CP): Besides Herbalife Ltd. (HLF), What Else Do You Need To Know About Bill Ackman?

We’ve written about General Growth Properties plenty of times before, but the company’s bullish thesis boils down to a few factors: (a) continuing value recovery after emergence from Chapter 11, (b) sales of underperforming assets, (c) the ever-present rumor of a deal with Simon Property Group, Inc (NYSE:SPG), (d) its ability to boost its occupancy rate even further than current levels, with most expectations of 96-97% by 2014, (e) steady free cash flow, and (f) a fairly wide moat in the mall space.

General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE:GGP) also grew its first quarter FFO by more than 13%, while raising its full-year guidance to $1.11-$1.15 in FFO per share versus analysts’ consensus mark near $1.10.

The best of the rest

BEAM Inc (NYSE:BEAM) and Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW) are the fourth and fifth most valuable equity holdings in Ackman’s 13F, respectively, and both represent momentum—rather than value—plays moving forward. Each stock is up double-digit percentage points year-to-date, and while they aren’t particularly cheap, both Beam and Burger King sport booming growth estimates from Wall Street. The sell-side expects BEAM Inc (NYSE:BEAM) to generate EPS growth in excess of 190% this year, while Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW)’s forecast is near 175%. Both stocks sport PEG ratios in excess of 2.0, but each gives Ackman a solid bet on consumer discretionary spending and an economic recovery.

Bottom Line

Looking through Bill Ackman’s top five equity positions, it’s fairly easy to notice that the mega-investor has a penchant for value-creation through restructuring, whether it’s with Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP), The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) or the REIT, General Growth. Beam and Burger King represent more conventional momentum plays, but it’s important to watch each member of this “fab five” going forward; learn more about hedge funds here.

Disclosure: none