David Winters' Wintergreen Fund's Top Five Stocks

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Dec 01, 2014
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The Wintergreen Fund recently released its first quarter portfolio holdings. These holdings highlighted 33 stocks, with none of those being new buys over the past quarter, valued at $1.337 billion.

The Wintergreen Fund, managed by David Winters, invests primarily in equity securities of companies in any nation that the Wintergreen team believes are available at market prices less than their value. Winters and his team identify these securities through intense analysis and research with special focus on the relationship of book value to market value, cash flow and multiples of earnings.

The following five companies are the five largest positions in David Winter’s Wintergreen Fund portfolio.

British American Tobacco (LSE:BATS)

Wintergreen’s largest holding is in British American Tobacco where they maintain 1,834,526 shares of the company’s stock. This holding makes up for 7.7% of Wintergreen’s total portfolio and 0.10% of the company’s shares outstanding.

The fund has not altered their position in British American Tobacco since 2011Q1. Over the past five years the fund has seen average gains of 84% on shares bought.

Wintergreen Fund’s historical holding history:

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British American Tobacco PLC is a holding company which owns, directly or indirectly, investments in the numerous companies constituting the British American Tobacco Group of companies. All subsidiary undertakings are involved in activities directly or indirectly related to the manufacture, distribution or sale of tobacco products.

British American Tobacco’s historical revenue and earnings growth:

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The analysis on British American Tobacco reports that the company’s revenue has declined over the past year, the price is near a 10-year high and its P/B and P/S ratios are trading at historical highs. The analysis also reports that the company’s operating margin is expanding and its Piotroski F-Score is high, indicating a healthy situation for the company.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:

British American Tobacco has a market cap of $70.73 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $37.95 with a P/E ratio of 18.50 and a P/S ratio of 4.74. The dividend yield of BATS is currently at 3.98%. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 9.30% over the past ten years.

GuruFocus rated British American Tobacco the business predictability rank of 4.5-star.

Franklin Resources (BEN, Financial)

The Wintergreen Fund (Trades, Portfolio)’s second largest position is in Franklin Resources where he holds on to 1,835,346 shares of the company’s stock. This position represents 7.5% of the guru fund’s total portfolio as well as 0.29% of the company’s shares outstanding.

The fund did not alter their position over the past quarter. Since their last move in the first quarter of 2013 the price per share is up about 21.1%.

The Wintergreen Fund (Trades, Portfolio)’s historical holdings as of the close of the third quarter:

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Franklin Resources is a holding company that, together with its various subsidiaries operates as a global investment management organization offering investment choices under the Franklin, Templeton, Mutual Series, Bissett, Fiduciary and Darby brand names. Its primary business and operating segment is the investment management and related services.

Franklin Resources’ revenue and net income:

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The analysis on Franklin Resources reports that the company’s has strong financial strength, it has a strong Altman Z-Score and it has enough cash to cover all of its debt. The analysis also notes that the company’s operating margin is expanding, its price is close to a 10-year high and its revenue per share has slowed down over the past year.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is undervalued:

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Franklin Resources has a market cap of $35.39 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $56.86 with a P/E ratio of 15.00 and a P/S ratio of 4.18. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 9,70% over the past ten years.

GuruFocus rated Franklin the business predictability rank of 3.5-star.

Reynolds American (RAI, Financial)

The guru’s third largest holding is in Reynolds American where he holds on to 1,673,242 shares of the company’s stock. This position makes up for 7.4% of the guru’s total portfolio as well as 0.31% of the company’s shares outstanding.

The guru did not alter his position over the duration of the past quarter. The fund’s last move was in the second quarter of 2013, and since then the price per share has increased roughly 39.2%.

Reynolds American, through its subsidiaries, manufactures cigarettes and other tobacco products in the United States. The Company's reportable operating segments are RJR Tobacco, American Snuff and Santa Fe.

Reynolds’ historical revenue and earnings growth:

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The analysis on Reynolds American reports that the company’s operating margin is expanding, its price is near a 10-year high and its dividend yield is near a 5-year low.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:

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Reynolds American currently has a market cap of $35.02 billion. Its shares are trading at around $65.91 with a P/E ratio of 21.90, a P/S ratio of 3.80 and a P/B ratio of 6.27. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 6.60% over the past ten years.

Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ)

The guru’s fourth largest holding is in Canadian Natural Resources where the fund holds on to 2,361,959 shares of the company’s stock. This position makes up for 6.9% of the guru’s total portfolio as well as 0.22% of the company’s shares outstanding.

The fund did not alter their holdings over the past quarter. The fund’s last move was in the fourth quarter of 2013, and since then the price per share has increased approximately 12.6%.

Wintergreen’s historical holding history:

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Canadian Natural Resources is a Canadian based independent energy company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development, production, marketing and sale of crude oil, NGLs, and natural gas production.

Canadian Natural Resources’ historical revenue and net income:

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The analysis on Canadian Natural Resources reports that the company’s price is near a 5-year high, it has issued CAD4.3 billion of debt and its dividend yield is near a 10-year high.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently undervalued:

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Canadian Natural Resources has a market cap of $41.44 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $37.96 with a P/E ratio of 13.30 and a P/S ratio of 2.01. The dividend yield of Canadian Natural Resources is at 2.31%. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 7% over the past ten years.

Swatch Group (XSWX:UHR)

The fund’s fifth largest holding is in Swatch Group where they hold on to 184,025 shares of the company’s stock. This position makes up for 6.5% of the fund’s total portfolio as well as 0.33% of the company’s shares outstanding.

The fund did not alter their position over the past quarter and have not made a change to their holdings since 2009Q2. Over the past five years Wintergreen Fund has seen average gains of 181% on shares bought.

Wintergreen’s historical holding history:

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Swatch Group AG manufactures watches, watch components, jewelry, miniature batteries, LCD displays, and scoreboards. The company produces watches and movements for watches or analog systems.

Swatch Group’s historical revenue and net income:

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The analysis on Swatch Group reports that the company’s interest coverage is comfortable, meaning that it holds enough cash to cover all of its debt. The analysis also reports that the company’s revenue has slowed down over the past year, its dividend yield is near a 3-year low, its price is near a 5-year high and its operating margin is expanding.

The Wintergreen Fund is currently the only guru that holds a position in Swatch Group.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently undervalued:

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Swatch Group has a market cap of CHF26.57billion. Its shares are currently trading at around CHF477.50 with a P/E ratio of 12.60, a P/S ratio of 2.86 and a P/B ratio of 1.97. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 22.40% over the past ten years.

Check out the Wintergreen Fund’s complete third quarter portfolio here.

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