A Look at Jean-Marie Eveillard's Top Buys

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Mar 12, 2015
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Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio), former portfolio manager of First Eagle Funds, added 31 new positions to his portfolio during the fourth quarter of 2014.

The French investor was named "Stock Manager of the Year" by Morningstar in 2001. He was also a finalist in the "fund manager of the decade award for non-U.S. stocks" in 2009.

According to Eveillard, investment business is "a big tent that accommodates many different people...at one end of the tent there is Ben Graham, and at the other side of the tent there is Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)."

Eveillard's portfolio currently consists of 342 stocks, valued at $41.15 billion and a quarter-over-quarter turnover of 10%.

"Taking the long term approach like Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)'s approach is the way to go. The only question I have is that whether the fundamental financial landscape changed. And I do not know the answer to that."

Here's a look at Eveillard's top three most recent buys.

Union Pacific Corp (UNP, Financial)

Eveillard purchased 1,989,936 shares of UNP at an average price of $114.86 a share. The stock consists of 0.58% of his overall portfolio.

Union Pacific is a rail transporting company that was incorporated in 1969 in Utah.

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The Peter Lynch earnings line indicates the stock may be slightly overvalued. It is currently trading at $114.75 a share.

The company's current ratio is at a comfortable 1.24, which indicates good short-term financial strength.

The current P/S ratio of 4.37 is close to the 10-year high of 4.72, which is a warning sign investors should be cautious of.

The P/B ratio of 4.88 is also close to the 10-year high of 5.19.

Union Pacific's P/E ratio is 20.19 and ranked higher than 76% of the companies in the global railroad industry.

PPG Industries Inc (PPG, Financial)

Eveillard purchased 1,028,349 shares of PPG at an average price of $207.35 a share. The stock has a 0.58% portfolio weighting.

PPG manufactures and distributes a variety of coatings, optical and specialty materials and glass products. The company was incorporated in 1883 in Pennsylvania.

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According to the Lynch earnings line, the stock's value is $148.20 and currently trading at $$228.34, which indicates it may be overvalued.

PPG's current P/E ratio is 15.51, which is close to the three-year low of 14.40 and a good sign for investors.

Packaging Corp of America (PKG, Financial)

Eveillard also purchased 2,429,031 shares of PKG at an average price of $71.72 a share. The stock has a 0.46% portfolio weighting.

The company manufactures containerboards and corrugated packaging products.

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According to the Peter Lynch earnings line, the stock may be overvalued, as it is currently trading at $77.83 a share.

The current P/E ratio is19.74 and the P/S ratio is 1.29.

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