By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Billionaire investor Daniel Loeb's hedge fund Third Point on Thursday detailed the size of its stakes in U.S. Steel and Kenvue, companies that shareholders hope will soon benefit from being bought by someone.

U.S. Steel has been waiting to be acquired by rival Nippon Steel, Japan's largest steel producer, since 2023, but the deal has been on hold since the Biden administration blocked it and the Trump administration in April ordered a new national security review.

At the end of the first quarter, Third Point owned 12.2 million shares of U.S. Steel, the so-called 13F filing released on Thursday showed.

Loeb told investors in a letter seen by Reuters that he had built the "meaningful stake" in U.S. Steel and that he was optimistic that a merger between the company and its Japanese rival Nippon Steel can be completed.

He has not publicly acknowledged the firm's position in Kenvue, the maker of Band-Aids and Tylenol, which is being pushed by other investors to consider divestments or even a sale of the entire company. Thursday's filing shows Third Point owned 8.9 million shares of Kenvue on March 31, 2025.

While the filings, which detail investment firms' stakes in U.S. stocks at the end of the previous quarter, are backward-looking, they are closely watched for investment trends.

Separately, Toms Capital Investment Management also built positions in U.S. Steel and Kenvue during the first quarter, according to its 13F filing. The firm owned 4.9 million shares in common stock of U.S. Steel at the end of the first quarter and 14.4 million shares of Kenvue, the filings show.

Toms Capital has pushed Kenvue to consider strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the entire company or portions of it, sources familiar with the firm's engagement said.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Diane Craft)