Leon Cooperman's Omega Advisors disclosed in a regulatory filing its holdings as of December 31, 2018. Omega exited 38 positions during the quarter, including by size of previous position, Sinclair Broadcast (SBGI), Keane Group (FRAC), PVH Corp. (PVH), Adobe (ADBE) and Dish (DISH). Omega increased its stake in six holdings, including by size, Cigna (CI), CVS Health (CVS), Mr. Cooper (COOP), THL Credit (TCRD) and Marathon Petroleum (MPC). The fund reduced its stake in 24 holdings, including United Continental (UAL), AMC Networks (AMCX), First Data (FDC), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Nabors Industries (NBR). Omega's top holdings as of December 31, in order of size, were United Continental, Alphabet, Nielsen (NLSN), Ashland (ASH) and CVS Health (CVS).
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is mulling releasing its draft proposal to expand sales of higher ethanol blends of gasoline without including simultaneous measures it promised the oil sector to curtail biofuel credit speculation, Humeyra Pamuk of Reuters reports, citing three sources familiar with the matter. The move would help the EPA lift a summertime ban on sales of E15 gasoline in time for the U.S. driving season, but will likely bother oil refiners that had been asking the White House for biofuel credit market changes to cut their costs, Pamuk reports. Publicly traded companies in the refining space include Delek US (DK), HollyFrontier (HFC), Marathon Petroleum (MPC), Phillips 66 (PSX), Tesoro (TSO), Valero (VLO) and Western Refining (WNR). Reference Link
Dan Loeb's Third Point disclosed in an SEC filing its holdings as of December 31, 2018. Third Point had one new buy in the quarter, it bought 575,000 shares of Cigna (CI). The fund exited 10 positions during the quarter, including by size of previous position, United Technologies (UTX), Alibaba (BABA), Microsoft (MSFT), Netflix (NFLX) and Marathon Petroleum (MPC). Third Point increased its stake in four holdings, Salesforce (CRM), Campbell Soup (CPB), Shire (SHPG) and Iqvia Holdings (IQV). The fund reduced its stake in 12 holdings, including by size of previous position, Baxter (BAX), PayPal (PYPL), DowDuPont (DWDP), American Express (AXP) and Constellation Brands (STZ). Third Point's top holdings as of December 31, 2018, in order of size, were Baxter, Campbell Soup, DowDuPont, PayPal and Danaher (DHR).
Reports Q4 revenue $32.54B, consensus $34.24B. Earnings included costs of $745 million, or $1.06 per diluted share, due to purchase accounting related inventory effects, expenses associated with the Andeavor combination, and MPLX debt extinguishment costs. "This extraordinary fourth quarter represents an early indication of the tremendous value creation opportunities resulting from this powerful combination," said Gary Heminger, chairman and CEO. "By executing the strategy outlined during our recent Investor Day, we have realized $160 million of synergies in just three months and continue to expect total annual gross run-rate synergies of up to $600 million at year-end 2019 and $1.4 billion by the end of 2021." Heminger continued, "These successes combined with a favorable refining margin environment and record performance in our retail segment propelled significant earnings growth during the quarter. Despite normal seasonal trends, we remain optimistic about the prospects for our business in 2019. The transformative combination we have undertaken this past year not only expands our platform and broadens our commercial opportunities, we believe it uniquely positions us to capture market opportunities, enhance the stability of our cash flow, and create long-term value for our shareholders."
Catch up on today's top five analyst initiations with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Nasdaq (NDAQ) initiated with a Buy at Argus. 2. Marinus Pharmaceuticals (MRNS) initiated with an Outperform at Leerink. 3. PolyOne (POL) initiated with a Buy at Buckingham. 4. Marathon Petroleum (MPC) initiated with an Outperform at Macquarie. 5. CymaBay (CBAY) initiated with a Neutral at B. Riley FBR.This list is just a portion of The Fly's analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.
The board of directors of Marathon Petroleum declared a dividend of 53c per share on common stock. The dividend is payable March 11 to shareholders of record as of the close of business February 20. The 53c dividend represents a 15% increase to the previous quarterly dividend.
Papa John's International (PZZA) announced the appointment of Marvin Boakye as its first chief people officer. He will serve as a member of the Papa John's Executive Leadership Team and report to president and CEO Steve Ritchie. Boakye joins Papa John's after serving as vice president of human resources at petroleum company Andeavor (ANDV). Boakye will play a critical leadership role in implementing the company's talent management strategy, which includes overseeing people operations; compensation and benefits; and learning and development. He replaces Senior Vice President of People Operations Bob Smith, who retired from Papa John's in August 2018 after serving 15 years with the company.
