Since founding Century Management in Austin, Texas, more than 40 years ago, value investor Arnold Van Den Berg (Trades, Portfolio) has made a habit of beating the indices. Typically, nearly half of his holdings are in industrial and financial services stocks. It remains to be seen if the moves he made in the third quarter will extend his successful streak, but many of his deals did involve stocks in those segments.
Half of his transactions in the third quarter involved reductions in his holdings.
Van Den Berg acquired holdings in seven companies in the third quarter that were new to his portfolio – Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CBI, Financial), Post Holdings Inc (POST, Financial), Exelon Corp (EXC, Financial), InnerWorkings Inc (INWK, Financial), The Intergroup Corp (INTG, Financial), Avid Technology Inc (AVID, Financial) and Signature Group Holdings Inc (SGGH, Financial).
He purchased 150,930 shares of Chicago Bridge & Iron, a Dutch engineering and construction company, for an average price of $49.32 per share. The transaction had a 2.1% impact on Van Den Berg’s portfolio.
He also bought 500,410 shares of Post Holdings, a St. Louis-based food processing company, for an average price of $40.71 per share. The deal had a 1.6% impact on Van Den Berg’s portfolio.
Van Den Berg bought 366,200 shares of Exelon, a Chicago-based energy company, for an average price of $32.81 per share. The transaction had a 1.2% impact on the portfolio.
He expanded his stakes in 11 companies – Era Group Inc (ERA, Financial), Atwood Oceanics Inc (ATW, Financial), Ensco PLC (ESV, Financial), Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc (DO, Financial), Dynamic Materials Corp (BOOM), Comstock Mining Inc (LODE), Ocwen Financial Corp (OCN), Enstar Group Ltd (ESGR), Seabridge Gold Inc (SA), PICO Holdings Inc (PICO) and Layne Christensen Co (LAYN).
Van Den Berg added 596,441 shares of Era Group, a Chinese media company, to his portfolio for an average price of $26.26. The addition had a 1.28% impact on his portfolio.
Divestitures and reductions
Van Den Berg sold his stakes in four companies – Walter Investment Management Corp (WAC), Lawson Products Inc (LAWS), International Game Technology (IGT) and Anglo American PLC (AAUKY).
Van Den Berg divested himself of 752,389 shares of Walter Investment Management, a Florida-based mortgage services provider, for an average price of $26.20. That transaction had a -2% impact on the portfolio.
He reduced his holdings in 22 companies – McDermott International Inc (MDR), Corning Inc (GLW), Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO), POSCO (PKX), Jacobs Engineering Group Inc (JEC), Wells Fargo & Co (WFC), Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK.B), Newmont Mining Corp (NEM), Apache Corporation (APA), Comcast Corp (CMCSK), Layne Christensen Co, Maxwell Technologies Inc (MXWL), Yamana Gold Inc (AUY), Halliburton Co (HAL), Emerson Electric Co (EMR), Randgold Resources Ltd (GOLD), Total SA (TOT), Granite Construction Inc. (GVA), Astec Industries Inc (ASTE) and Tidewater Inc (TDW).
Van Den Berg sold 3,965,841 shares of McDermott International, a Texas-based oil and gas company, for an average price of $7.21 per share. The McDermott International sale had a -2.79% impact on Van Den Berg’s portfolio.
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