Ferrari shares jumped Tuesday after billionaire hedge fund investor George Soros revealed a new stake in the luxury carmaker.
In a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Soros Fund Management revealed it bought a €28 million (roughly $31.2 million) stake in Ferrari (RACE), and the stock jumped 8% on the New York Stock Exchange.
Soros now owns a 0.45% stake—which comes as a big vote of confidence for the Italian car maker. Ferrari has struggled with analyst skepticism after a third of its market value got lopped off following its IPO in October, when shares priced at $52 apiece.
“Soros’s disclosure of an holding in Ferrari is clearly sending a positive signal to the investment community,” Vincenzo Longo, strategist at IG Group in Milan, told Bloomberg, which first reported the story.
When contacted by Coins2Day, Citigroup maintained its most recent rating—a Neutral. The bank had lowered Ferrari’s target price from €37 per share to €35 on Feb. 8.
Ferrari looks “to be facing a mixed year owing to the LaFerrari run-out and weak volumes at Maserati versus a sales boost courtesy of the sold-out F12tdf and the soon-to-launch Maserati Levante,” Citigroup analysts wrote.
Evercore ISI analysts also reaffirmed the stock’s Sell rating after cutting the target price to €35 per share, writing that “Ferrari’s 2016 outlook was underwhelming” in a February note.
The luxury car maker is primarily owned by the Angelli family, who also own a controlling stake in parent company Fiat Chrysler (FCAU). Through their holding company ExorSpA, the family owns 23% of Ferrari.
T. Rowe Price Group, a mutual fund, owns a 4% stake, according to Bloomberg. Soros’ fund is the ninth-largest shareholder.
