"Tracking Carl Icahn’s Portfolio – Q1 2021 Update"
"Carl Icahn’s 13F portfolio value increased from $20.06B to $23.85B this quarter.They added FirstEnergy and increased Bausch Health & Dana Corp while reducing Herbalife.Icahn Enterprises, Occidental Petroleum, and CVR Energy are the three largest positions.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Carl Icahn’s 13F portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on Icahn’s regulatory  filed on 5/17/2021. Please visit our  to get an idea of his investment philosophy and our  for the fund’s moves during Q4 2020.This quarter, Icahn’s 13F portfolio value increased ~19% from $20.06B to $23.85B. The number of holdings increased from 18 to 19. The portfolio is very concentrated with the largest five positions accounting for ~75% of the entire holdings: Icahn Enterprises, Occidental Petroleum, CVR Energy, Newell Brands, and Cheniere Energy.Carl Icahn is best known for building sizable stakes in businesses and then pushing for changes to increase shareholder value. To learn more about his investing style and philosophy check out “”.Note 1: In a Bloomberg interview yesterday, Icahn disclosed he is long Allstate (ALL) at a cost-basis in the 90s. This is compared to the current price of ~$136. The following was also confirmed during the interview: a) they are still short CMBX and went so far as to criticize the counter-parties saying they were irresponsible – took undue risks whereby they could loose 40-50% to get an upside of just ~2% over treasuries, b) they are looking to see whether to go long on cryptos (GBTC) (ETHE) in a big way, and c) regarding ESG support in the infrastructure bill, they feel CVI Energy is in a good position – as a mid-sized refinery, they are transforming to renewables – it is the least costly way to build a renewable power plant.Note 2: Icahn’s 13F filing is a consolidated report and so should not be viewed as a single portfolio. Specifically, Icahn Enterprises holds several of the businesses and the entities in turn hold Icahn Enterprises. For an idea on the business structure, check-out  (Slide 5).New Stakes:First Energy Corp (FE): FE is a 2.76% of the portfolio position purchased this quarter at prices between ~$29.50 and ~$35.60 and the stock currently trades at $37.58.Stake Decreases:Occidental Petroleum (OXY) and wts: OXY is a top three 9.60% of the portfolio position established in Q2 2019 at ~$52 per share. Q3 2019 saw a ~23% selling at prices between $42 and $53 and that was followed with a ~15% reduction last quarter at prices between $37.25 and $44.50. The pattern reversed in Q2 2020: ~300% stake increase at an average cost of ~$14.60. Next quarter saw the position increased further thru the purchase of 19.3M warrants (strike 22, 8/3/2027 expiry) for ~$2.75 per warrant. The stock is now at $25.29. Their overall cost-basis is ~$20.50 per share. There was minor trimming this quarter.Note: Regulatory filings since the quarter ended show them owning ~78M shares (8.2% of the business). This is compared to 86M shares in the 13F report. The reduction happened in the mid-to-high 20s price-range.Herbalife (HLF): HLF is a 1.49% of the 13F portfolio stake first purchased in Q1 2013 in the high-teens price range. Q3 2016 saw a ~15% increase at prices between $29 and $34 and that was followed with a similar increase the following quarter at prices between $24 and $32. Q2 2018 saw the position sold down by ~25% at $52.50 per share. Last August 14.72M shares (~40% of his position of ~35M shares as of last quarter) were sold back to the company at $48.75 per share following Herbalife's self-tender offer. This quarter saw a ~60% reduction at ~$48.50 per share. The stock currently trades at $52.66.Note 1: Regulatory filings show them no longer owning any shares. The ~8M shares held at quarter end were disposed at prices between $46 and $48.Note 2: The prices quoted above are adjusted for a 2-for-1 stock-split done in April 2018.Stake Increases:Bausch Health (BHC) and Dana Inc. (DAN): These were the two new stakes last quarter.  The 4.54% of the portfolio BHC position was purchased at prices between ~$15.30 and ~$21 and increased by ~575% this quarter at prices between ~$21.25 and ~$34.40. The stock currently trades at ~$32. The 1.23% DAN stake was established at prices between ~$13.25 and ~$20 and increased by ~200% this quarter at prices between ~$19 and ~$27. The stock currently trades at $26.24.Note: The ownership percentage in Bausch Health is 34.1M shares (9.59% of the business). Two Icahn nominees are on the board.Note 2: Icahn controls ~8% of Dana Inc.Xerox Corporation (XRX): XRX is a 2.93% of the portfolio position established in Q4 2015 at prices between $24 and $32. This quarter saw a ~17% stake increase. Their overall cost basis is $25.50. The stock is now at $23.75.Note 1: Regulatory filings since the quarter ended show them beneficially owning 31.14M shares (16.22% of the business) including forward contracts. This is compared to 28.8M shares in the 13F report.Note 2: In December 2017, Icahn launched a proxy battle nominating four new board members in an effort to stop the Xerox-Fujifilm deal announced earlier. Last May, Xerox scrapped the deal with Fujifilm in a settlement with Icahn and Darwin Deason (another activist alongside Icahn).Note 3: Icahn’s activism earned him three board seats in 2016. Xerox spun-off Conduent and that transaction closed in January 2017. That was followed with a 1:4 stock-split in June. The prices quoted above are adjusted for these two transactions.Tenneco Inc. (TEN): Tenneco is a small 0.38% portfolio position. It came as partial consideration for the acquisition of Federal-Mogul: Tenneco issued ~5.65M Class A shares and ~23.79M Class B (non-voting) shares. The stock is now at $15.24. Q2 2020 saw a ~62% stake increase at prices between $2.32 and $12.56. There was a ~20% reduction last quarter while this quarter saw a roughly one-third increase.Note: The Class B non-voting shares are not in the 13F report. Regulatory filings since the quarter ended show them owning ~4M shares (~5% of the business). This is compared to 9.6M shares in the 13F report. The reduction happened at prices between ~$11 and ~$14.Kept Steady:Icahn Enterprises (IEP): IEP position has seen consistent increases over the years. The position size increased from ~98M shares to ~102M shares in 2013, to ~109M shares in 2014, to ~117M shares in 2015, to ~130M shares in 2016, to ~158M shares in 2017, 175.4M in 2018, 197M in 2019, and 222M shares in 2020. The stock currently trades at $58.57.Note: IEP Book Value per share is ~$17.50 per share.CVR Energy Inc. (CVI): CVI is a top five 5.73% of the 13F portfolio position first purchased in Q4 2011. The bulk of the current position (71.2M shares: ~71% of the whole business) was purchased through a $30 per share tender offer in H1 2012. The stock currently trades at $21.83.Note: Two MLPs were carved out since the 2012 tender: CVR Refining the refining portion and CVR Partners (UAN) the nitrogen fertilizer unit. CVR Energy had majority ownership stake in both. In August 2015, CVR Partners agreed to merge with Rentech Nitrogen. Q2 2018 saw a tender offer whereby new CVR Energy shares were exchanged for CVRR at a valuation of $24.26 per common unit (0.6335 shares of CVI for one CVRR). ~22M new shares were issued.Newell Brands (NWL): NWL is a 4.91% of the portfolio position established in Q1 2018 at a cost-basis of $27.40 per share. The stock is now at $28.25. Q2 2018 saw a ~10% stake increase at prices between $23 and $28 and that was followed with a ~15% increase next quarter at prices between $20.50 and $28. Overall, their cost-basis is ~$25.60. Q1 2020 also saw a ~6% stake increase.Note: In April 2019, rival activist Starboard Value came to an agreement with Carl Icahn whereby they now together control Newell’s board.Cheniere Energy (LNG): LNG is a large (top five) 4.88% portfolio position. The bulk of it was purchased in Q3 2015 at prices between $47.50 and $70.50. Q4 2015 saw a ~15% increase at prices between $36 and $54. There was an about turn in Q2 2018: ~28% reduction at ~$65. Last quarter saw another ~20% selling at prices between ~$46 and ~$61. The stock currently trades at $84.50.Note: Icahn’s ownership stake in the business is ~7%.Navistar International (NAV): NAV is ~3% of the 13F portfolio long-term position. The last significant activity follows: ~22% increase in Q2 & Q3 2014 at prices between $29 and $38. The stock currently trades at $44.23.Note: Icahn controls ~17% of the business.Cloudera (CLDR): The 2.67% of the portfolio position in CLDR was purchased in Q3 2019 at a cost-basis of ~$5.41. The stock is currently at $12.83. His ownership interest is just under ~20%. Q2 2020 saw a ~5% trimming.Note: In August 2019, it was announced that Carl Icahn had reached an agreement with management at Cloudera: in exchange to keeping his ownership interest capped at ~20%, he got to nominate two directors to the company’s board.Herc Holdings (HRI): HRI is a small 1.91% of the portfolio position established in Q2 2016 as a result of the spinoff of Herc Holdings from Hertz Global Holdings. There was a ~4% stake increase in Q3 2017 at ~$38.50. The stock started trading at ~$33 and currently goes for ~$108.Note: Icahn controls ~16% of the business.Conduent Inc. (CNDT): The small ~1% portfolio stake came about as a result of Conduent’s spinoff from Xerox that closed in January 2017. Terms called for Xerox shareholders to receive Conduent shares in the ratio 1:5. Icahn owned 99M shares of Xerox for which he received 19.8M shares of Conduent. CNDT started trading at ~$15 and currently goes for $7.36. Q2 2019 saw a ~60% stake increase at around $9 per share. That was followed with a ~20% increase in Q4 2019 at ~$6.50 per share.Note: Their ownership interest in Conduent is at ~18% of the business. Last August, Hunter Gray was appointed to the Board of Directors.Delek US Holdings (DK): DK is a very small ~1% of the portfolio position purchased at prices between $8.35 and ~$28 and the stock currently trades at $21.58. Icahn has a ~15% ownership stake in the business.Welbilt Inc. (WBT) previously Manitowoc Food Service: The very small 0.81% of the portfolio WBT stake was established as a result of the spin-off from Manitowoc. The spin-off terms called for one share of WBT for each share of MTW held. Icahn held 10.58M shares of MTW for which he received the same number of WBT shares. Regular-way trading started in early March 2016 with WBT at $13.41. It currently trades at $19.65 compared to Icahn’s overall cost-basis of ~$13. There was a ~18% stake increase in Q1 2020.Note: Icahn controls ~10% of the business.Sandridge Energy (SD): SD is a 0.08% of the portfolio activist stake established in Q4 2017 at prices between $16 and $21 and the stock is now well below that range at $5.23.Note: Icahn has a ~13.5% ownership stake in the business. He lobbied the board and succeeded in ending the Bonanza Creek acquisition on December 28, 2017. In June 2018, Icahn gained control of Sandridge’s board by winning a proxy battle.Note: Icahn also owns significant stakes in the following OTC stocks as per latest regulatory filings: ~36M shares (48.6% of business) of Enzon Pharmaceuticals (ENZN) at a cost-basis of ~$2.70, and ~89% of Viskase Companies (VKSC). He is also known to have a position in Fannie/Freddie (FNMA) (FMCC). The Enzon position saw a substantial increase last quarter as they participated in a rights offering.The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Icahn’s 13F stock holdings in Q1 2021:Source: John Vincent. Data constructed from Carl Icahn’s 13F filings for Q4 2020 and Q1 2021.Regulatory filings thru 3/1/2021: 13D/A – 3/1 – DK – letter sent to demand right to inspect book, etc., 13D/A – 2/18 – similar filing, 13D/A – 2/2 – seeking to elect 3 to the board, 13D/A – 1/14 – letter to board, . Form 4, 13D/A – 2/25 – XRX – Forward contracts for 1.4M shares – 30.17M shares – 15.21% of business, 13D/A – 1/26 – Nomination & Standstill agreement. Form 4 – 2/24 – TEN - ~1.7M shares disposed @ ~11.30 - ~8.3M shares remain, Form 4, 13D/A – 2/17 – 2.85M shares acquired – 9.96M shares remain (~15% of business), Form 4 – 2/11 - ~80K shares disposed at ~10.75 – 7.11M shares remain – 11.23% of business, Form 4 – 2/8 – 335K shares disposed @ ~10.90, ~7.2M shares remain, 13D/A – 2/8 – 7.2M shares – 11.36% of business, Form 4 – 2/3 – 370K shares disposed @ 10.85 – 7.5M shares remain, 13D/A – 2/3 – 7.53M shares – 11.89% of business, Form 4 – 1/25 – 160K disposed @ 10.85 – 7.9M shares remain, 13D/A – 1/25 – 7.9Mshares – 12.48% of business, Form 4 – 1/20 – 165K shares disposed @ 10.80, 8.06M shares remain, 13D/A – 1/20 – 8.06M shares – 12.73% of business, similar several. 13D/A – 2/24 – BHC – director appointment & nomination related, 13D – 2/11 – 27.8M shares – 7.8% of business – forward purchase agreements for 22.77M shares @ $17 per share, also purchased ~2.3M shares at ~20.50. 13G – 2/4 – DAN – 10.76M shares – 7.45% of business. Form 4, 13D/A – ¼ - Herbalife – HLF – 12.49M shares disposed @ 48.05, 8.02M shares remain (6.73% of business), . Form 4, 13D/A – 12/30 – IEP – 8.36M shares acquired @ 51.05, 221.75M shares – 92.2% of business, . 13D/A – 12/11 – LNG – 18.12M shares – 7.18% of business. 13D/A – 12/1 – SD – Sandridge Energy – 4.82M shares – 13.41% of business."