AFAM Capital’s Chief Investment Officer John Buckingham (Trades, Portfolio) purchased six new positions in the fourth quarter, though the majority was of ETFs.
Founded in 1930, AFAM Capital held 147 stock positions at the end of the fourth quarter in a portfolio valued at $785 million. In his market outlook report for 2015, Buckingham said several factors made him bullish on stocks: improving domestic economic numbers, accommodative global central bank policies, attractive dividends, reasonable valuations and healthy corporate profits.
As for the behavior of the S&P 500 for the year, Buckingham said:
“While we do not find the [Wharton Professor Jeremy] Siegel number [Dow Jones Industrial Average past the 20,000] to be an unreasonable target next year, as it is only 11% or so away, we also know that Icahn’s major correction could occur at any time, as a 15% downturn has historically happened every two years, on average. Sounds like what we have been saying for nearly four decades: the long-term trend is up, but not without a few scary setbacks along the way.
All that said, if forced to choose a number, and conceding that the markets are always susceptible to pull-backs and corrections, I would ‘go out on a limb’ and argue that an 11% increase in the S&P 500 is a good guess.”
Buckingham’s six new positions chosen in the fourth quarter of 2014 were: Trinity Industries Inc. (TRN, Financial), iShares MSCI Malaysia Index Fund (EWM, Financial), Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE, Financial), Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM, Financial), Global X InterBolsa FTSE Colombia 20 (GXG, Financial) and SPDR S&P 500 (SPY, Financial).
Trinity Industries Inc. (TRN, Financial)
Buckingham purchased 118,946 shares of Trinity Industries Inc., a 0.42% portfolio holding. The stock’s fourth quarter average price was $34.
Trinity Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1933. It became a Delaware Corporation in 1987. Trinity Industries Inc. has a market cap of $4.53 billion; its shares were traded at around $29.12 with a P/E ratio of 7.10 and P/S ratio of 0.80. The dividend yield of Trinity Industries Inc. stocks is 1.30%. Trinity Industries Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 16.60% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Trinity Industries Inc. the business predictability rank of 2-star.
iShares MSCI Malaysia Index Fund (EWM, Financial)
Buckingham purchased 222,413 shares of iShares MSCI Malaysia Index Fund, a 0.38% portfolio holding. The stock’s price averaged $15 in the fourth quarter.
iShares MSCI Malaysia Index Fund (ETF) has a market cap of $838.10 million; its shares were traded at around $13.25. The dividend yield of iShares MSCI Malaysia Index Fund (ETF) stocks is 3.80%.
Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE, Financial)
Energy Select Sector SPDR purchased 31,706 shares of Energy Select Sector, a 0.32% portfolio holding. The stock’s price averaged $84 in the fourth quarter.
Energy Select Sector SPDR (ETF) has a market cap of $7.96 billion; its shares were traded at around $79.30. The dividend yield of Energy Select Sector SPDR (ETF) stocks is 1.30%.
Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM, Financial)
Buckingham purchased 17,398 shares of Qualcomm, a 0.16% portfolio holding. The stock’s price averaged $73 in the fourth quarter.
Qualcomm Inc. was incorporated in 1985 under the laws of the state of California. Qualcomm Inc. has a market cap of $115.82 billion; its shares were traded at around $70.21 with a P/E ratio of 15.00 and P/S ratio of 4.50. The dividend yield of Qualcomm Inc. stocks is 2.30%. Qualcomm Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 13.20% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Qualcomm Inc. the business predictability rank of 3.5-star.
Global X InterBolsa FTSE Colombia 20 (GXG, Financial)
Buckingham purchased 86,645 shares of Global X InterBolsa Colombia20, a 0.14% portfolio holding. The stock’s price averaged $17 in the fourth quarter.
Buckingham purchased 0.11% of SPDR S&P 500, a 0.11% portfolio holding. The index’s price averaged $198 in the fourth quarter.
SPDR S&P 500 ETF has a market cap of $156.2 billion; its shares were traded at around $206.93. The dividend yield of SPDR S&P 500 ETF stocks is 2.0%.
See more John Buckingham (Trades, Portfolio) stocks at his portfolio here. Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Try it free for 7 days here.
