Hedge fund acquires 6.6% of Rockwell Collins stock

A hedge fund company has acummulated 6.6 percent of the stock of Rockwell Collins, the Cedar Rapids-based aerospace and defense electronics company.

ValueAct Capital Management of San Francisco has acummulated 10.1 million shares of Rockwell Collins stock, the company revealed in a beneficial ownership report filed last week with the Securities Exchange Commission. The company said it acquired the funds for investment purposes in the ordinary course of business.

ValueAct is a hedge fund specializing in the value stock of companies, according to Bloomberg Business Week. Value stocks are stocks that trade at a low value relative to others based on underlying fundamentals such as sales, dividends and assets.

Shares of Rockwell Collins have declined sharply in value over the last seven weeks along with most of the stock market, but may be suffering more than most due to concerns about the prospect for future cuts in government military spending. After trading as high as $63 on July 8, they had fallen by Monday, August 29, to about $49 per share.

Rockwell Collins spokeswoman Pam Tvrdy said the disclosure indicates that ValueAct is the largest holder of Rockwell Collins shares. She said several other large investors have 3-4 percent of outstanding Rockwell Collins shares each.