Here’s Why Greenlight Decided to Repurchase Viatris (VTRS)
Greenlight Capital, an investment management firm, released its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter, a copy of which can be downloaded here. In 2023, the Greenlight Capital funds returned 22.1% net of fees and expenses, compared to 26.3% for the S&P 500 index. The Partnerships have returned 2,902.1% cumulatively or 13.1% annualized since Greenlight Capital's inception in May 1996, both net of fees and expenditures. The index has returned 1,117.1% or 9.5% annualized, over the same period. 2023 was a great year for the Partnerships. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Greenlight Capital featured stocks such as Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ:VTRS) in the fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ:VTRS) is a healthcare company. On January 24, 2024, Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ:VTRS) stock closed at $11.72 per share. One-month return of Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ:VTRS) was 8.02%, and its shares gained 0.69% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ:VTRS) has a market capitalization of $14.114 billion.
Greenlight Capital stated the following regarding Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ:VTRS) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
We established medium-sized positions in Alight (ALIT) and Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ:VTRS), and a small position in Syensqo (Belgium: SYENS). VTRS is a manufacturer of generic and off-patent branded drugs. The company was created in 2020 after a merger between Mylan and a division of Pfizer. We previously invested in Mylan, but sold five years ago due to concerns around management’s ability to deliver on promises, as well as deterioration in the generic industry. Those concerns were well-founded, as the shares proceeded to decline by more than 60% after we exited. After a recent management change, we decided to take another look and found that after years of sharp declines, generic drug pricing has stabilized and competition has been diminished. The company’s revenue and cash flow are now growing, and we expect this improvement to accelerate. VTRS’ new management team has simplified its drug portfolio via various divestitures and has committed to returning 50% of free cash flow to shareholders through “aggressive” share buybacks, implying a double-digit capital return based on our estimates. We acquired our shares at an average price of $10.63, or just 4.0x 2024 consensus earnings. VTRS shares ended the quarter at $10.83."
A healthcare worker in a lab coat, holding a microscope and reflecting on the diagnosis of a patient.
Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ:VTRS) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 43 hedge fund portfolios held Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ:VTRS) at the end of third quarter which was 42 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ:VTRS) in another article and shared the list of S&P 500 stocks on the move. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
