Bill Ackman already has a 29% return on his Nike bet
Activist investor Bill Ackman’s $9 billion Pershing Square Capital Managment has taken a passive position in sports apparel and footwear giant Nike (NKE).
In a new investor presentation, the hedge fund manager provided a brief update on his new investment, calling it a “high quality business” that should see strong revenue growth and margin expansion.
Nike was one of the fund’s few winners in 2017, contributing 0.8% to Pershing Square Holdings’ performance, which is the publicly-traded vehicle led by Ackman. Pershing Square Holdings ended 2017 down 4%, while the S&P 500 returned 21.8%.
“NKE’s share price including dividends has increased 29% from our average cost to January 19, 2018,” Ackman noted in his presentation. NKE was trading at around $67 on Jan. 19, which is where it’s trading today.
Reuters first reported the Nike stake is a passive position. It’s unclear how big the Nike position is at this time. In mid-February, hedge funds like Pershing Square will have to report their long equity holdings in regulatory filings known as 13-Fs.
Ackman, 51, is known for being an activist investor, taking large positions in a handful of companies and pushing for changes.
Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.