Luxor Capital Reduces BJ's Restaurants Stake, Adds To Manitowoc

Hedge fund firm Luxor Capital recently filed two disclosures with the SEC regarding BJ's Restaurants (BJRI) and Manitowoc (MTW).


Luxor Reduces BJ's Restaurants Position

First, Luxor has revealed that they now own 9.8% of BJ's Restaurant (BJRI) with over 2.5 million shares.

This is a reduction in their position size as they owned 3.5 million shares at the end of Q1.  The filing details that Luxor recently sold a block of 1 million BJRI shares to UBS at $50.80.

Per Google Finance, BJ's Restaurants is "owns and operates restaurants. The Company operates under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, BJ’s Pizza & Grill and BJ’s Grill names. The Company owns and operates 158 restaurants. Its menu consists of deep-dish pizza, craft beers and other beers, as well as a range of appetizers, entrees, pastas, sandwiches, specialty salads and desserts, including its Pizookie dessert. Its menu also includes starter salads, handcrafted burgers, sandwiches and tacos, desserts, lunch specials, housemade soups and salads, and gluten-free menu, among others. Its Snacks and Small Bites menu category comprises small plate appetizers and salads and a lower calorie and better for you menu category called Enlightened Entrees."


Luxor Boosts Manitowoc Stake

Second,  Luxor has also disclosed they now own 5% of Manitowoc (MTW) with over 6.82 million shares.  Some of their position is common stock underlying call options.

This is a sizable increase from their previous position size.  Luxor used to own 1.788 million shares of MTW as of the end of the first quarter.  The new filing was due to activity on July 31st.

We also just posted that Pennant Capital increased its Manitowoc stake as well.

Per Google Finance, Manitowoc is "a multi-industry capital goods manufacturer. The Company operates in two markets: Cranes and Related Products (Crane) and Foodservice Equipment (Foodservice). Crane is a provider of engineered lifting equipment for the global construction industry, including lattice-boom cranes, tower cranes, mobile telescopic cranes and boom trucks. Foodservice is a manufacturer of commercial foodservice equipment serving the ice, beverage, refrigeration, food-preparation, holding and cooking needs of restaurants, convenience stores, hotels, healthcare and institutional applications. Its Crane products are marketed under the Manitowoc, Grove, Potain, National Crane, Shuttlelift and Manitowoc Crane Care brand names. Its Foodservice products, services and solutions are marketed under Cleveland, Convotherm, Dean, Delfield, Fabristeel, Frymaster, Garland, Inducs, Koolaire, Kolpak, Kysor Panel Systems and U.S. Range, Lincoln, Manitowoc Ice and Merrychef, among others." 

Luxor Capital Adds To Conn's Position

Hedge fund firm Luxor Capital filed a 13D with the SEC regarding their position in Conn's (CONN).  Per the filing, Luxor now owns 20.9% of the company with over 7.58 million shares. 

This means they've boosted their position size by over 4.64 million shares since the end of the second quarter.

Their 13D contains the standard boilerplate that they don't have any plans currently but may engage with management.  The filing was made due to activity on September 29th.

Conn's recently announced it is exploring strategic alternatives.  They're entertaining ideas such as separating its retail and credit businesses, slowing store openings and returning capital to investors, or selling the company.

David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital was also a top shareholder of the company as of the end of Q2.

Per Google Finance, Conn's is " is a specialty retailer of durable consumer products, and it also provides consumer credit to support its customers’ purchases of the products that it offer. The Company derives revenue primarily from two sources: retail sales and delivery of consumer electronics, home appliances, furniture and mattresses, lawn and garden equipment and repair service agreements, and its in-house consumer credit program, including sales of related credit insurance products. Through its in-house consumer credit programs, it provides financing. In addition, it offers third-party payment options through GE Capital, for customers with high credit scores, and RAC Acceptance, a rent-to-own payment plan for customers that do not qualify for the other options it offer."

Luxor Capital Acquires Convertible Preferred Stock in Altisource Asset Management

Hedge fund firm Luxor Capital has acquired 250,000 shares of convertible preferred stock in Altisource Asset Management (AAMC), the company announced today.

AAMC announced a $300 million buyback and raised $250 million from the private placement of these shares to Luxor.  The hedge fund won't receive dividends and the conversion price is $1,250 per share.


Mortgage Servicers Under Scrutiny

Altisource Asset Management is one of the companies in Bill Erbey's empire (along with Ocwen Financial (OCN), Altisource Portfolio Solutions (ASPS) and Altisource Residential (RESI)).  Shares of numerous of these companies have been under fire this year as regulatory scrutiny on mortgage servicers has picked up.  In the past, we've highlighted the investment thesis on ASPS.


Hedge Funds Involved in MSR-Related Plays

At the end of the fourth quarter (and before the scrutiny intensified), numerous hedge funds were involved in these companies.  Given the volatility in shares, it's hard to say who is still involved besides Luxor.  But here's a list of top holders as of Q4 2013:


AAMC: SAB Capital Management, Neuberger Berman, Tiger Eye Capital, Luxor Capital, Long Pond Capital, Capital Research Global Investors, White Elm Capital, Tyrian Investments

OCN: Capital Research Global Investors, Neuberger Berman, Egerton Capital, Pennant Capital, Pine River Capital, White Elm Capital,Tyrian Investments

ASPS: Neuberger Berman, Luxor Capital, Renaissance Technologies, Omega Advisors, SAB Capital, White Elm Capital, Tiger Eye Capital,Tyrian Investments

RESI: Capital Research Global Investors, SAB Capital, BlackRock, Bloom Tree Partners, Neuberger Berman, Hayman Capital


Last week, Kyle Bass' hedge fund Hayman Capital boosted its stake in Nationstar Mortgage Holdings as well.

Luxor Capital Files 13D on BJ's Restaurants (BJRI)

Hedge fund Luxor Capital has filed a 13D on shares of BJ's Restaurants (BJRI) indicating they own around 9.7% of the company with over 2.7 million shares.  This is a new position for the hedge fund as they did not report a stake at the end of 2013.

The filing was required due to activity on February 28th and the fine print of the filing indicates they're nominating five individuals to the board of directors.

A recent transaction breakdown shows that Luxor was out buying BJRI shares throughout January between $28.xx and $31.xx.

Per Google Finance, BJ's Restaurants "owns and operates restaurants.  The company's restaurants operate under the BJ's Restaurant & Brewery BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, BJ's Pizza & Grill, or BJ's Grill names. The Company's menu features its BJ's deep-dish pizza, its hand-tossed style pizza, its craft beers and other beers, as well as a selection of appetizers, entrees, pastas, sandwiches, specialty salads and desserts, including its Pizookie dessert. The Company's BJ's Restaurant & Brewery restaurants feature on-premise brewing facilities where BJ's craft beers are produced for some of its restaurants."