Welcome to the Q2 2025 issue of Hidden Value Stocks from Hedge Fund Alpha (formerly ValueWalk Premium).
We’ve got lots of stock write-ups from conference coverages. We just covered the Ben Graham Centre’s 2025 Value Investing Conference, Value Invest New York Conference, and New York Quality-Growth Conference, so you’ll find complete coverage of ideas on the website. In May, we have Sohn Conferences in New York, Montreal, and Hong Kong, so check back for complete coverage of those.
We hope you enjoy this issue of Hidden Value Stocks, please contact us at [email protected] with any comments, questions or suggestions. This issue features Alyx Wood of Kernow Asset Management and Judson Traphagen of Plough Penny Partners.
Before we get to Wood’s and Traphagen’s stock picks, let’s follow up on Focus Capital’s and City Different’s theses for Burford Capital, which appeared in the Q4 2023 and Q1 2024 issues of Hidden Value Stocks, respectively.
Jacob Wolinsky, Founder, Hedge Fund Alpha (formerly ValueWalk Premium)
Michelle deBoer-Jones, Editor-in-Chief, Hedge Fund Alpha (formerly ValueWalk Premium)
Introduction to Judson Traphagen and Plough Penny Partners
Judson Traphagen holds a B.A. in History from Denison University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Right after college, he began working for former Goldman Sachs investment banker Paul Kazarian at Japonica Partners.
“I was the lowest man on the totem pole in a very small firm, but I was lucky to be part of an extraordinary deal: we acquired bankrupt Allegheny International out of Chapter 11, with backing from Michael Steinhardt and Michael Price,” Traphagen said. “All of the Japonica employees went to work at what was re-named Sunbeam-Oster. We worked 100 hours a week for years turning around the company.“
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Returns and top holdings
Traphagen and his team generated a hefty 51% gross return for 2024 and now is up 1% year to date as of March 24.
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