TXNM’s Ivy-Climbing Ascent: A Fund’s $8M Gambit

In the brittle autumn of November, Hong Kong’s Athos Capital unearthed a curious petal from the corporate thicket-TXNM Energy (TXNM +0.30%). With the precision of a surgeon dissecting a frog, they acquired 142,842 shares, a bouquet worth $8.08 million. A transaction, one suspects, less about conviction and more about the faint scent of regulation’s perfume.

What Happened

Athos Capital, that spectral hand in the market’s glove, unfurled a new position in TXNM Energy (TXNM +0.30%) on September 30, its tendrils coiling around 142,842 shares. The Form 13F, filed on November 12, was a mere parchment-a record of intent, not of passion. This stake, 5.06% of the fund’s $159.62 million in reportable assets, was a pebble tossed into a pond. The ripples, however, were not yet visible.

What Else to Know

The fund’s portfolio reads like a menu from a banquet of caution:

  • NYSE:BEKE: $47.50 million (30.7% of AUM)
  • NYSE:KVUE: $40.58 million (26.2% of AUM)
  • NYSE:GTLS: $11.58 million (7.5% of AUM)
  • NASDAQ:LBRDK: $10.75 million (6.9% of AUM)
  • NYSE:TXNM: $8.08 million (5.2% of AUM)

TXNM’s share price, now $58.92, has climbed like ivy on a crumbling wall-23% over the past year. Yet the S&P 500, that stolid old oak, merely stretched its branches upward by 16%. A victory, perhaps, but one that smells faintly of desperation.

Company Overview

Metric Value
Market capitalization $6.42 billion
Revenue (TTM) $2.11 billion
Net income (TTM) $176.92 million
Price (as of Monday) $58.92

Company Snapshot

  • TXNM Energy, that steadfast custodian of wires and electrons, peddles electricity through its PNM and TNMP segments. A business as old as the telephone poles that dot the New Mexico plains.
  • Its regulated utility model is a relic of the 20th century, yet it persists-like a dachshund refusing to abandon the garden. Revenue flows from households, businesses, and industrial facilities, a mosaic of dependents.
  • The company’s energy mix, a patchwork of renewables and fossil fuels, is less a statement of environmental virtue than a pragmatic hedge against the caprices of nature and regulators.

TXNM’s operations are a symphony of stability. Third-quarter GAAP earnings: $1.22 per share. Ongoing earnings: $1.33. Approved rate increases in New Mexico and transmission recovery in Texas provide a rhythm, steady as a metronome. Yet the $78 million battery project, tethered to solar assets, feels like a last-minute addition to a novel-a subplot hastily appended to appease the critics.

Foolish Take

This move, cloaked in the language of strategy, is a chess game played with pawns and bishops. TXNM’s $59 share price, perched precariously on the edge of a Blackstone Infrastructure acquisition at $61.25, is less a peak than a cliff. The upside is a mirage; the downside, a chasm. And yet, Athos Capital, that sly fox, allocates 5% of its assets here, while its paws dig deeper into the earth of KE Holdings and Kenvue. A portfolio as balanced as a tightrope walker’s step.

The company’s third-quarter earnings, bolstered by rate increases and grid investments, are the kind of news that makes investors smile. But TXNM’s silence on 2025 guidance, while the acquisition looms like a thundercloud, is the truest indicator. Regulatory approvals stretching into 2026? A season of waiting, perhaps, but patience is a virtue only when the harvest is guaranteed.

For the patient investor, this stake is not a gamble but a ledger entry. A narrow path, flanked by cliffs, where the only victory is not falling off. A story not of ambition, but of survival.

Glossary

13F: A quarterly SEC filing by institutional investment managers disclosing their holdings of U.S. publicly traded securities.

Assets under management (AUM): The total market value of investments managed on behalf of clients by a fund or firm.

Reportable holdings: Securities positions that must be disclosed in regulatory filings, such as the 13F, due to size or type.

Initiated a position: When an investor or fund buys shares of a company for the first time.

Regulated utility: A company whose rates and operations are overseen by government agencies to ensure fair pricing and reliable service.

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Transmission and distribution: The process of delivering electricity from power plants to end-users through high-voltage lines and local networks.

Diversified customer base: Serving a wide range of clients, such as residential, commercial, and industrial users, reducing reliance on any single group.

Integrated business model: A company structure that combines multiple stages of production or service, such as the generation and delivery of electricity.

Stake: The ownership interest or investment a person or entity holds in a company.

Outperforming: Achieving a higher return or better performance compared to a benchmark, such as the S&P 500.

Subsidiaries: Companies controlled by a parent company, often operating in related or supporting business areas.

TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

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2025-12-22 23:23