Carl Icahn Buys More Herbalife & Navistar

Activist investor Carl Icahn has submitted two SEC filings regarding his positions. 

Icahn Buys More Herbalife

Icahn added to his Herbalife (HLF) position, per SEC filings.  In a 13D filing, Icahn disclosed he now owns 24.57% of HLF with over 22.87 million shares.

This means he purchased 372,324 shares at a price of $51.35 on March 10th per the 13D.

For more on this investor, we also highlighted how Icahn started a Bristol-Myers Squibb stake.

Per Google Finance, Herbalife is "a global nutrition company. The Company develops and sells weight management, healthy meals and snacks, sports and fitness, energy and targeted nutritional products, as well as personal care products. The Company's segments include North America; Mexico; South & Central America; Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA); Asia Pacific, and China. The Company markets and sells over 140 products, encompassing approximately 5,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) globally. Its product categories include Weight Management; Targeted Nutrition; Energy, Sports and Fitness; Outer Nutrition, and Literature, Promotional and Other. The Company's representative products include Formula 1 Healthy Meal, Herbal Tea Concentrate, Protein Drink Mix, Personalized Protein Powder, Total Control, Prolessa Duo, Protein Bars, Aloe Concentrate, Niteworks, Garden 7 phytonutrient supplement, Best Defense for improved immune system, COQ10 Plus and Herbalife SKIN line."


Icahn Adds To Navistar Position Too

Second,  Icahn now owns 17.02% of Navistar (NAV) with over 16.69 million shares, per a 13D filed with the SEC.

The filing notes Icahn bought 423,404 shares in total across March 8th, 9th, and 10th at prices of $25.47, $25.37, and $25.92.

Per Google Finance, Navistar is "a holding company whose principal operating entities are Navistar, Inc. and Navistar Financial Corporation (NFC). The Company's segments include Truck, Parts, Global Operations (collectively, Manufacturing operations) and Financial Services, which consists of NFC and its foreign finance operations (collectively, Financial Services operations). The Truck segment manufactures and distributes Class 4 through 8 trucks, buses and military vehicles under the International and IC Bus brands, along with production of engines. The Parts segment supports its brands of International commercial trucks, IC buses and engines. The Global Operations segment includes operations of its subsidiary, International Industria de Motores da America do Sul Ltda. (IIAA). The Financial Services segment provides and manages retail, wholesale and lease financing of products sold by the Truck and Parts segments and their dealers."

Carl Icahn Raises Hertz Global and Navistar Stakes

Activist investor Carl Icahn has filed two separate amended 13D's with the SEC.

Increases Hertz Global Stake Again

The corporate rabblerouser has continued to buy shares of Hertz Global (HTZ).  Per the SEC filing, he now owns 11.34% of the company with over 51.9 million shares.

He's increased his position size by 13.1 million more shares since the end of November and the filing was required due to portfolio activity on December 15th.

So Icahn has been very active buying HTZ shares over the past few weeks.  Hertz is analyzed in the latest issue of our Hedge Fund Wisdom newsletter if you want to read the full bull and bear cases on the name.

Per Google Finance, Hertz Global "operates in two segments: rental and leasing of cars, crossovers and light trucks (car rental), and rental of industrial, construction and material handling equipment (equipment rental).."


Adds To Navistar International Position

Icahn also filed a 13D on Navistar and disclosed he now owns 19.99% of the company with over 16.27 million shares.

This means he's boosted his position size by over 1.9 million shares since the end of the third quarter.  This filing was required due to activity on December 17th.

Per Google Finance, Navistar International is "a manufacturer of International brand commercial and military trucks, IC Bus (IC) brand buses, MaxxForce brand diesel engines, Workhorse Custom Chassis (WCC) brand chassis for motor homes and step vans, and Monaco RV (Monaco) recreational vehicles (RV), as well as a provider of service parts for all makes of trucks and trailers. In addition, it is a private-label designer and manufacturer of diesel engines for the pickup truck, van and sport utility vehicle (SUV) markets. It also provides retail, wholesale, and lease financing of trucks and parts. NIC operates in four segments: Truck, Engine, Parts and Financial Services."

Mark Rachesky's MHR Fund Joins Carl Icahn in Activist Navistar Stake

Today, Mark Rachesky's activist oriented MHR Fund Management filed a Form 3, Form 4 and 13D with the SEC regarding shares of Navistar International (NAV).

Per the activist 13D filing, MHR Fund Management has disclosed a 13.6% ownership stake in Navistar with 9,335,837 shares.  This stake consists of common stock as well as numerous share forward transactions (right to buy) with various counterparties. 

The filing was made due to activity on June 7th.  MHR started acquiring shares of NAV in the open market in late May and the bulk of their purchases came between $26-27 per share.  Their right to buy forward transactions have a price per share of $25.5399.

The 13D contains the standard boilerplate that Rachesky's firm has acquired a stake because it feels the company is undervalued and they may seek to engage with discussions with management.


Carl Icahn Involved Too

Rachesky is now the company's largest shareholder, just ahead of Carl Icahn.  Icahn has also previously filed a 13D on the company. 

It just so happens that Rachesky previously was a managing director for Carl Icahn's investment vehicles as well.  Icahn was recently named as one of the top 25 highest earning hedge fund managers of 2011.

Icahn originally launched his bet on NAV back in late 2011 and he has been the top shareholder until Rachesky came along.  Icahn also recently boosted his stake to almost 12% of the company, purchasing shares around $24.xx.  However, he originally purchased his stake at prices between $35-40.  As such, the bulk of his investment has an unrealized loss at current prices. 

It seems the two activists are angling for a larger industrial giant to take a stake in the company or perhaps partner with Navistar.  Icahn has also been allowed by the company to put his directors up for election to the board this year.

While Icahn has made some progress, it will be interesting to see if the two activist investors' combined forces can spark more change.


About MHR Fund Management

Rachesky received his B.S. in molecular aspects of cancer from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine. Additionally, he also holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to founding MHR Fund Management, Rachesky previously worked as a senior investment officer and managing director to Carl Icahn. 


About Navistar International

Per Google Finance, Navistar is "a manufacturer of International brand commercial and military trucks, IC Bus (IC) brand buses, MaxxForce brand diesel engines, Workhorse Custom Chassis (WCC) brand chassis for motor homes and step vans, and Monaco RV (Monaco) recreational vehicles (RV), as well as a provider of service parts for all makes of trucks and trailers."