Trouble Brewing For Some Of Jeffrey Altman’s Top Smid-Cap Picks Like Iron Mountain Inc (IRM)

During the first quarter, Owl Creek acquired some 1.54 million shares of Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NYSE:HTZ) to take its total stake to 6.15 million shares valued at $133.27 million. The holding represents 7.2% of the fund’s portfolio value. Another smid-cap yet to deliver for Owl Creek, Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NYSE:HTZ)’s stock has depreciated by 16.2% so far this year. Among the billionaires that we track, nine had invested about $3.32 billion in the $9.57 billion car rental company at the end of March. Renowned activist investor Carl Icahn is one of them, as his fund Icahn Capital LP holds about 51.92 million shares of Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NYSE:HTZ) valued at $1.13 billion.

The smid-cap pick which has worked for the fund so far is Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI), as the stock has gained more than 27% year-to-date. In contrast, the personal services industry is up by only 3.79% during the same time period. Owl Creek initiated a stake in the $5.88 billion provider of death care services and products during the second quarter of 2014. At the end of March, the holding was comprised of 3.65 million shares valued at $95.10 million. In its financial results for the first quarter, Service Corporation delivered an EPS of $0.32, which beat estimates by $0.04, however, revenues of $748.1 million came in $4.35 million lighter than expected. David Cohen and Harold Levy‘s Iridian Asset management is the largest stockholder of Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) among the funds that we track, owning about 10.67 million shares valued at $277.96 million.

Disclosure: None