Howard Marks Buys 13 New Stocks in Q3

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Nov 14, 2014
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Howard Marks (Trades, Portfolio) is the co-chairman of Oaktree, a firm with $93 billion in assets whose primary focus is risk control. He is also famous for regularly penning memos. In his September memo, “Risk Revisisted,” he wrote:

“Economic and company fundamentals in the U.S. are fine today, and asset prices – while full – don’t seem to be at bubble levels. But when undemanding capital markets and a low level of risk aversion combine to encourage investors to engage in risky practices, something usually goes wrong eventually. Although I have no idea what could make the day of reckoning come sooner rather than later, I don’t think it’s too early to take today’s carefree market conditions into consideration. What I do know is that those conditions are creating a degree of risk for which there is no commensurate risk premium. We have to behave accordingly.”

In the third quarter, Marks bought 13 new stocks. The top new holdings are: Tribune Publishing Co. (TPUB, Financial), Amsurg Corp (AMSGP, Financial), Rock-Tenn Company (RKT, Financial), Yandex NV (YNDX, Financial) and Itau Unibanco Holding SA (ITUB, Financial).

Tribune Publishing Co. (TPUB, Financial)

Marks purchased 4,691,371 shares of Tribune Publishing Co., giving it 1.6% space in the portfolio. The stock price averaged $21.

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Tribune Publishing Co. has a market cap of $449.0 million; its shares were traded at around $17.65.

Amsurg Corp (AMSGP, Financial)

Marks bought 292,600 shares of Amsurg Corp, a 0.52% portfolio holding. The stock’s quarterly price averaged $109.

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AmSurg Corp was formed in 1992. The company owns and operates short stay ambulatory surgery centers or ASCs in the United States with a P/E ratio of 34.0 and P/S ratio of 1.40. The dividend yield of Amsurg Corp stocks is 1.20%. Amsurg Corp had an annual average earnings growth of 22.0% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Amsurg Corp the business predictability rank of 4.5-star.

Rock-Tenn Company (RKT, Financial)

Marks purchased 588,632 shares of Rock-Tenn Company, a 0.46% portfolio holding. The stock’s quarterly price averaged $50.

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Rock-Tenn Company was incorporated in Georgia. The company is a manufacturer of packaging products, recycled paperboard, containerboard, bleached paperboard and merchandising displays. Rock-Tenn Company has a market cap of $8 billion; its shares were traded at around $55.87 with a P/E ratio of 17.10 and P/S ratio of 0.80. The dividend yield of Rock-Tenn Company stocks is 1.30%. Rock-Tenn Company had an annual average earnings growth of 18.20% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Rock-Tenn Company the business predictability rank of 3.5-star.

Yandex NV (YNDX, Financial)

Marks purchased 961,100 Yandex NV shares, a 0.44% portfolio weight. The quarterly share price averaged $30.

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Yandex NV was incorporated in Netherlands. It is an Internet company in Russia operating search engine. Yandex NV has a market cap of $8.27 billion; its shares were traded at around $25.98 with a P/E ratio of 26.30 and P/S ratio of 6.99. Yandex NV had an annual average earnings growth of 27.20% over the past five years.

Itau Unibanco Holding SA (ITUB, Financial)

Marks purchased 1,855,600 shares of Itau Unibanco Holding, a 0.43% portfolio weight. The stock’s quarterly price averaged $16.

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Itau Unibanco Holding SA provides financial products and services in Brazil. Itau Unibanco Holding SA has a market cap of $74.42 billion; its shares were traded at around $13.59 with a P/E ratio of 6.80 and P/S ratio of 2.00. The dividend yield of Itau Unibanco Holding SA stocks is 0.50%. Itau Unibanco Holding SA had an annual average earnings growth of 8.40% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Itau Unibanco Holding SA the business predictability rank of 2.5-star.

See more Howard Marks (Trades, Portfolio) stocks at his portfolio here. Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Try it free for 7 days here.