Ackman Does About-Face at Lowe's

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Bill Ackman's Pershing Square hedge fund sold its position in Lowe's(LOW) after he bought the company in the third quarter. He added a substantial amount to Canadian Pacific(CP) shares.

Bill Ackman

The only new investment revealed in the fourth-quarter regulatory filing was the addition of Beam Inc.(BEAM), which was the result of a split of Fortune Brands(FBHS) in October. Ackman got one share of Beam for every Fortune Brands share he owned, a transaction he pushed for when building a position in the company in 2010. Beam now operates the liquor business (Maker's Mark and Jim Beam), while Fortune Brands encompasses the home and security business (Master Lock and Moen).

Both stocks have jumped since they began trading separately Oct. 4. Between then and the end of the fourth quarter, Beam rallied 15%, and Fortune Brands shot up 38% -- proof of a good investment.

Of Ackman's 10 investments in the fund, Beam and Fortune Brands are tied at No. 6, each representing 8.7% of the portfolio. Canadian Pacific is now ranked No. 4, up from No. 8 in the previous quarter and representing 10.1% of the fund. Of note, it was announced that Pershing Square owned a 12.2% stake in the Calgary-based railroad company at the end of October, but that increased to 14.2% at the end of January, matching the number of shares in today's 13-F filing.

Ackman is known for making big investments in companies and then pressuring for asset sales or other strategic changes he believes will boost the stock price. In the case of Canadian Pacific, Ackman is pushing for a new CEO to improve operations. His candidate is former Canadian National Railway(CNI) CEO Hunter Harrison. Ackman is also gearing up for a proxy battle at the company's shareholder meeting in May. He is backing a new five-director slate that would replace the current one and help spur the CEO change he desires.

Investments in General Growth Properties(GGP) and JCPenney(JCP) remained unchanged. They're the two largest holdings, representing 30% and 16% of the total portfolio.