Richard Snow Picks Up Investing Pace in Fourth Quarter

Guru Richard Snow (Trades, Portfolio), president, CIO and founder of Pennsylvania-based Snow Capital, favors financially strong companies when he looks to invest, but he prefers them to be facing temporary issues that have had the effect of lowering stock prices.

His approach to value investing produced a return of better than 40% for his clients in 2013.

Snow was more active in stock trades in the fourth quarter than he was in any other quarter in 2014, but the difference was most pronounced between the third and fourth quarters. He made roughly 30% more stock deals in the fourth quarter than he had in the third.

Snow added to existing holdings in 58 companies – Abercrombie & Fitch Co (ANF, Financial), Triumph Group Inc (TGI, Financial), Carbo Ceramics Inc (CRR, Financial), Tidewater Inc (TDW, Financial), Nabors Industries Ltd (NBR, Financial), Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK, Financial), Big Lots Inc (BIG, Financial), Terex Corp (TEX, Financial), Ford Motor Co (F, Financial), Kennametal Inc (KMT, Financial), NCR Corp (NCR, Financial), PBF Energy Inc (PBF, Financial), Rio Tinto PLC (RIO, Financial), Community Health Systems Inc (CYH), Devon Energy Corp (DVN), First Niagara Financial Group Inc (FNFG), Avnet Inc (AVT), Eaton Corp PLC (ETN), KeyCorp (KEY), International Paper Co (IP), American International Group Inc (AIG), MetLife Inc (MET), Johnson Controls Inc (JCI), Genworth Financial Inc (GNW), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM), Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp (IART), OFG Bancorp (OFG), Textron Inc (TXT), Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc (SPR), OmniVision Technologies Inc (OVTI), Analogic Corp (ALOG), Omega Protein Corp (OME), ACCO Brands Corp (ACCO), Ultra Petroleum Corp (UPL), SodaStream International Ltd (SODA), Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc (HY), OSI Systems Inc (OSIS), FNB Corp (FNB), TCF Financial Corp (TCB), Highwoods Properties Inc (HIW), The Bancorp Inc (TBBK), Black Box Corp (BBOX), Orbotech Ltd (ORBK), Selective Insurance Group (SIGI), Patterson-UTI Energy Inc (PTEN), Titan Machinery Inc (TITN), VOXX International Corp (VOXX), World Wrestling Entertainment Inc (WWE), First Commonwealth Financial Corp (FCF), FBR & Co (FBRC), Ducommun Inc (DCO), LSB Industries Inc (LXU), MFC Industrial Ltd (MIL), Brady Corp (BRC), American Vanguard Corp (AVD), Kelly Services Inc (KELYA), FBL Financial Group Inc (FFG), Cowen Group, Inc. (COWN) and PBF Energy Inc (PBF).

Snow acquired 3,032,794 shares of Abercrombie & Fitch, an Ohio-based casual wear retailer, for an average price of $30.68 per share. The transaction had a 2.64% impact on Snow’s portfolio.

Four other gurus – John Burbank (Trades, Portfolio), Dodge & Cox, Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) and Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) – own shares of ANF. Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio) and Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) sold their stakes in the fourth quarter, and Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) sold his stake in the third quarter.

Snow bought 849,443 shares of Triumph Group, a Pennsylvania-based supplier of aerospace components and systems, for an average price of $65.65 per share. That purchase had a 1.72% impact on his portfolio.

Four gurus – Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), David Tepper (Trades, Portfolio) and Private Capital (Trades, Portfolio) – own shares of Triumph. Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) sold his stake in the fourth quarter, and Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio), David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio) and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) sold their stakes in the third quarter.

Snow also bought 934,725 shares of Carbo Ceramics, an oilfield services technology company based in Houston, for an average price of $46.48 per share. That transaction had a 1.17% impact on his portfolio.

Five other gurus – Tom Gayner (Trades, Portfolio), Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio) and Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) – have Carbo stock in their portfolios. Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio) and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) sold their stakes in Carbo in the third quarter.

Snow bought stock in 10 companies that are new to his portfolio – Google Inc (GOOG), Owens-Illinois Inc (OI), Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc (WAIR), Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CBI), DXP Enterprises Inc (DXPE), Whiting Petroleum Corp (WLL), Virtus Investment Partners Inc (VRTS), iShares Russell 1000 Value Index (ETF) [IWD], Market Vectors Etf Trust (GDX) and Key Energy Services Inc (KEG).

He bought a 6,000-share stake in Google, the California-based provider of internet-related services and products, for an average price of $538.31 per share.

Three dozen gurus – Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio), Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Romick (Trades, Portfolio), Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio), Tom Gayner (Trades, Portfolio), Tweedy Browne (Trades, Portfolio) Global Value, Manning & Napier Advisors, Frank Sands (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Robert Karr (Trades, Portfolio), Bill Frels (Trades, Portfolio), Dodge & Cox, Signature Select Canadian Fund (Trades, Portfolio), Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio), Charles de Vaulx (Trades, Portfolio), First Pacific Advisors (Trades, Portfolio), Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio), PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio), Mariko Gordon (Trades, Portfolio), Wintergreen Fund (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Cibelli (Trades, Portfolio), Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio), David Tepper (Trades, Portfolio), Tweedy Browne (Trades, Portfolio), Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio), RS Investment Management (Trades, Portfolio), David Rolfe (Trades, Portfolio), David Winters (Trades, Portfolio), John Griffin (Trades, Portfolio), Tom Russo (Trades, Portfolio), Julian Robertson (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) and Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) – have stakes in Google.

Three others – Caxton Associates (Trades, Portfolio), Stanley Druckenmiller (Trades, Portfolio) and Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio) – sold their stakes in Google in the third quarter.

Divestitures and reductions

He sold his stakes in 12 companies – Transocean Ltd (RIG), KBR Inc (KBR), Exelon Corp (EXC), Anthem Inc (ANTM), Assurant Inc (AIZ), Geospace Technologies Corp (GEOS), Medifast Inc (MED), Susquehanna Bancshares Inc (SUSQ), Avon Products Inc (AVP), Goldcorp Inc (GG), TRW Automotive Holdings Corp (TRW) and International Business Machines Corp (IBM).

He reduced his holdings in 12 companies – Health Net Inc (HNT), General Motors Co (GM), Myriad Genetics Inc (MYGN), McDermott International Inc (MDR), BP PLC (BP), GrafTech International Ltd (GTI), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), Quality Systems Inc (QSII), General Electric Co (GE), Jabil Circuit Inc (JBL), Vera Bradley Inc (VRA) and Office Depot Inc (ODP).

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