Paulson & Co Reports No Holdings Of BofA, Citi Common Stock -Filing
15 February 2012 - 11:12AM
Dow Jones News
NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- Prominent hedge fund manager John
Paulson reported no longer holding common shares of Citigroup (C),
Bank of America (BAC) and Regions Financial Corp. (RF), apparently
paring back bank and financial stocks in the final quarter of
2011.
Paulson's investment vehicle, Paulson & Co., had previously
held 25 million common shares of Citi, 64 million shares of Bank of
America and 19 million shares of Regions. It revealed the change in
holdings in a quarterly regulatory filing on Tuesday.
Bank stocks sank in 2011, but have rallied so far this year.
Citi shares are up 21.9% year to date and Bank of America's are up
43%.
Paulson, who made a name betting against the housing market in
2007, had a difficult year in 2011. His funds reported 84 positions
valued at $13.9 billion at the end of December, down from 105
positions valued at $20.7 billion at the end of September. At the
end of 2010, his holdings were valued at $29.2 billion.
In the third quarter, Paulson reported significantly fewer
financial stocks, and pared back holdings in an exchange traded
fund that tracks gold.
In the quarter ended Dec. 31, Paulson reported his holdings in
SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) stood at 11.8 million shares, down from
30.4 million shares at the end of the third quarter. His holdings
of Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) common shares were 9.5 million
shares, less than half of the 22.2 million reported in the previous
quarter.
Paulson's holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust fell to 17.3 million
from 20.2 million.
As of the end of December, Paulson reported holding 15.8% of
Delphi Automotive PLC (DLPH), or roughly 51.8 million ordinary
shares. According to The Wall Street Journal, Paulson sold shares
into the company's November initial public offering, reducing his
stake from 22%.
In a separate filing, Paulson said Tuesday he would engage
shareholders of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) in
discussions about a spinoff of the insurer's property and casualty
business. He is one of the insurer's biggest shareholders.
Last week, he blasted Hartford's management on a conference
call, telling them they needed to "do something drastic" to boost
their stock price, which fell 30% over the last year. Paulson held
nearly 38 million shares of Hartford at the end of the fourth
quarter.
Paulson reported no holdings of McClatchy Co. (MNI), Liberty
Media and Ashford Hospitality Trust (AHT) at the end of the year.
In the third quarter, Paulson reported holdings of 5.9 million
shares of McClatchy, 6.4 million shares of Liberty Media and 3
million shares of Ashford.
-By Liz Moyer, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2512;
liz.moyer@dowjones.com
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