Guru Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio) is chairman of Horizon Asset Management, Inc., which produced a 27 percent return in 2012 and a 36 percent return the year after that.
Achievements like that can’t be duplicated every single year, but one can’t be blamed for taking a glimpse into such an investor’s quarterly activity for clues to his success. Those clues are hard to come by in Stahl’s latest portfolio; none of his 109 transactions in the fourth quarter had an impact on his portfolio that reached 1%.
The two largest transactions Stahl made involved the expansion of his stake in one company – Liberty Ventures (LVNTA, Financial), a video and online commerce company – and the reduction of his stake in another – Leucadia National Corp (LUK, Financial), a New York-based holding company that is involved in mining and drilling services, telecommunications, healthcare services, manufacturing, banking and lending, real estate and winery businesses.
Stahl added 19 companies to his portfolio – Sears Canada Inc (SRSC, Financial), Restaurant Brands International Inc (QSR, Financial), Tribune Media Co (TRCO, Financial), Green Brick Partners Inc (GRBK, Financial), Sandstorm Gold Ltd (SAND, Financial), GAMCO Investors Inc (GBL, Financial), Sunoco LP (SUN, Financial), Graham Holdings Co (GHC, Financial), Eagle Bancorp Inc (EGBN, Financial), Cohen & Steers Inc (CNS), Clayton Williams Energy Inc (CWEI), Facebook Inc (FB), Hertz Global Holdings Inc (HTZ), 3M Co (MMM), SolarCity Corp (SCTY), Pier 1 Imports Inc (PIR), Overseas Shipholding Group Inc (OSGB), Capital Southwest Corporation (CSWC) and Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC).
Stahl bought 2,721,693 shares of Sears Canada, a Toronto-based retailer that operates in all provinces and territories of Canada, for an average price of $9.36 per share. The transaction had a 0.35% impact on Stahl’s portfolio.
Gurus Bruce Berkowitz (Trades, Portfolio), Francis Chou (Trades, Portfolio) and Edward Lampert (Trades, Portfolio) also have shares of Sears Canada in their portfolios.
Stahl added to existing holdings in 27 companies – Liberty Ventures, TRI Pointe Homes Inc (TPH), Royal Gold Inc (RGLD), Silver Wheaton Corp (SLW), Discovery Communications Inc (DISCA), eBay Inc (EBAY), Imperial Holdings Inc (IFT), American Capital Ltd (ACAS), Altisource Portfolio Solutions SA (ASPS), Halcon Resources Corp (HK), W&T Offshore Inc (WTI), RPC Inc (RES), MasTec Inc (MTZ), LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB), Huntsman Corp (HUN), Hess Corp (HES), Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE), Carbo Ceramics Inc (CRR), Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK), BGC Partners Inc (BGCP), Amkor Technology Inc (AMKR), Apple Inc (AAPL), Talisman Energy Inc (TLM), Exterran Holdings Inc (EXH), Westlake Chemical Corp (WLK), Transocean Ltd (RIG) and TimkenSteel Corp (TMST).
Stahl bought 1,264,282 shares of Liberty Ventures for an average price of $34.98 per share. The purchase had a 0.64% impact on his portfolio.
Twelve gurus – Chase Coleman (Trades, Portfolio), Jana Partners (Trades, Portfolio), RS Investment Management (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio), Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio), Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Cibelli (Trades, Portfolio), Eric Mindich (Trades, Portfolio), Dodge & Cox and Charles de Vaulx (Trades, Portfolio) – own shares of Liberty Ventures. Eleven gurus – Scott Black (Trades, Portfolio), Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio), Michael Price (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Donald Yacktman (Trades, Portfolio), Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio), Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), John Burbank (Trades, Portfolio) and Yacktman Fund (Trades, Portfolio) – divested themselves of their Liberty Ventures holdings in the fourth quarter.
Divestitures and reductions
He reduced his stakes in 52 companies, among them Leucadia National Corp, Liberty Media Corporation (LMCK), Papa John's International Inc (PZZA) and CBS Corp (CBS).
Stahl sold 1,885,255 shares of Leucadia National for an average price of $23.05 per share. The sale had a -0.58% on his portfolio.
Eleven gurus – Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Columbia Wanger (Trades, Portfolio), Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio), Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio), Zeke Ashton (Trades, Portfolio), Tweedy Browne (Trades, Portfolio), Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio), Bruce Berkowitz (Trades, Portfolio), Third Avenue Management (Trades, Portfolio) and Fairholme Fund (Trades, Portfolio) – have shares of Leucadia National in their portfolios. George Soros (Trades, Portfolio), Chuck Akre (Trades, Portfolio) and Jana Partners (Trades, Portfolio) divested themselves of their stakes in the company in the fourth quarter.
He divested himself of his stakes in 10 companies – Dreyfus Municipal Income Inc (DMF), CNOOC Ltd (CEO), Nuveen California Dividend Advantage Municipal Fund (NZH), Nuveen Dividend Advantage Municipal Income Fund (NVG), Franklin Templeton Ltd Duration Inc Tr (FTF), Dendreon Corp (DNDNQ), Firsthand Technology Value Fund Inc (SVVC), Ascent Capital Group Inc (ASCMA), Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp (BAH) and Halyard Health Inc (HYH).
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