Steven Romick (Trades, Portfolio), a value-minded investment manager of the FPA Crescent Fund (FPACX), found just as many attractive stocks outside the U.S. as within it in the fourth quarter.
Romick purchased seven new holdings in total, according to his portfolio released Tuesday: Express Scripts (ESRX, Financial), United Technologies Corp (UTX, Financial), Carlsberg AS (OCSE:CARL B), Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO, Financial), Sulzer AG (XSWX:SUN, Financial), Sberbank of Russia (LSE:SBER, Financial) and Sberbank of Russia (MIC:SBERP).
At the time of writing Romick had not published a fourth quarter letter, and in his third quarter letter he wrote that he was taking a break from discussing the economy and markets until year-end.
The FPA Crescent fund returned 6.64% for 2014, a year when the S&P 500 soared 13.7%. Since inception, it has surpassed the index with an 11% annualized return compared to 9.4%. Romick manages $19.1 billion in net assets, with 66 stocks in his portfolio valued at $11 billion.
Top Fourth Quarter New Buys
Express Scripts (ESRX, Financial)
Romick purchased 4,234,000 shares of Express Scripts, a stock he sold out of in the second quarter. The holding is his largest introduced in the fourth quarter, representing 3.3% of the portfolio. Its fourth quarter share price averaged $78.
Express Scripts was incorporated in Missouri in September 1986, and reincorporated in Delaware in March 1992. Express Scripts has a market cap of $61.34 billion; its shares were traded at around $83.58 with a P/E ratio of 33.80 and P/S ratio of 0.60. Express Scripts had an annual average earnings growth of 25.9% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Express Scripts the business predictability rank of 4.5-star.
United Technologies Corp (UTX, Financial)
Romick purchased 1.88 million United Technologies Shares in the fourth quarter, a 2% portfolio holding. The stock’s price averaged $108 per share for the quarter.
United Technologies Corporation was incorporated in Delaware in 1934. United Technologies Corp has a market cap of $104.24 billion; its shares were traded at around $114.34 with a P/E ratio of 16.8 and P/S ratio of 1.6. The dividend yield of United Technologies Corp stocks is 2.1%. United Technologies Corp had an annual average earnings growth of 8.4% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated United Technologies Corp the business predictability rank of 2.5-star.
Carlsberg AS (OCSE:CARL B)
Romick bought 2,330,569 shares of Carlsberg AS, a 1.6% portfolio holding. The stock’s price averaged 511 per share for the quarter.
Carlsberg AS was incorporated in 1847. The company is a brewing company. Carlsberg As has a market cap of $72.16 billion; its shares were traded at around $473.10 with a P/E ratio of 14.9 and P/S ratio of 1.07. The dividend yield of Carlsberg AS stocks is 1.22%. Carlsberg As had an annual average earnings growth of 0.40% over the past five years.
Romick purchased 3,409,200 shares of new stock Yahoo Inc., a 1.6% portfolio holding. Yahoo’s stock averaged $47 per share in the fourth quarter.
Yahoo! Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is a Delaware corporation. Yahoo! Inc. has a market cap of $45.76 billion; its shares were traded at around $48.30 with a P/E ratio of 6.40 and P/S ratio of 10.8. Yahoo! Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 10.9% over the past 10 years.
Sulzer AG (XSWX:SUN, Financial)
Romick purchased 1,464,873 shares of Sulzer, a 1.4% portfolio holding. The stock’s price averaged CHK107 in the quarter.
Sulzer AG manufactures machinery and equipment, and operates in a surfacing technology business. Sulzer AG has a market cap of $3.41 billion; its shares were traded at around $100.30 with a P/E ratio of 15.5 and P/S ratio of 1.07. The dividend yield of Sulzer AG stocks is 2.07%.
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