Jean-Marie Eveillard is Chief Investment Officer of the Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Advisers, LLC Global Value Team and former portfolio manager of First Eagle Global, Overseas, Gold, U.S. Value and Overseas Variable Funds. He was born in Paris, came to the U.S. in 1968, and became portfolio manager in 1979. The investor reported increasing his stake in DURECT Corporation (DRRX, Financial) on March 9, according to GuruFocus Real Time Picks.
Since founding Century Management in 1974, Arnold Van Den Berg has handily beaten all of the indices. Mr. Van Den Berg is a value investor, and considers himself a student of Benjamin Graham. The investor reported increasing his stake in Layne Christensen Co (LAYN, Financial) on March 11, according to GuruFocus Real Time Picks.
DURECT Corporation
Eveillard was the largest shareholder of DURECT, with 10.71 million shares held as of the end of 2014, valued at $8.45 million. In the October-December period, he didn´t make any move on this stock, but with this transaction, Eveillard’s position increased by 0.01% to 13,129,197 shares. The fund initiated a position during the first quarter of 2012 with 1.94 million shares, so we conclude that this is a long-term pick in his portfolio. In that quarter, the average price was $0.81, so in a 3-year period the stock more than doubled since then.
DURECT’s shares lost 54.33% during the past year and closed 2014 at a price of $0.79 each. The last closing price is at $1.69, so the return year-to-date is about 114%.
The company a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the development of pharmaceutical products based on its proprietary drug delivery technology platforms in the United States and internationally. It has a $191.07 million market cap.
When looking at the company, we can find several severe warnings. Revenues constantly declined in the past five years, as well as the gross profit margin. The average rate of decline per year is -3.2%. Also, the P/B ratio is close to a 3-year high and the P/S ratio is close to a 1-year high.
The firm reported a drop in revenue and flat earnings per share (EPS) in the most recent quarter. During the past fiscal year, the company widened the negative results by earning -$0.19 versus -$0.21 in the previous year. For the next year, Wall Street expects a contraction of 26.3% in earnings (-$0.24 versus -$0.19).
In terms of valuation, the stock sells at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 5.73x.
Ari Zweiman was the second-largest shareholder, with a stake of 5.3 million shares in the fourth quarter of 2014. Another prominent investor,Ă‚ Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), sold 35% of the shares to end with 17,800 shares in the fourth quarter of last year.
Layne Christensen Co
Among investors that were bearish on the last quarter of 2014, we found Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) and Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio). This hedge fund guru was the fifth-largest shareholder of Layne, with 78,700 shares held as of the end of 2014, valued at $0.75 million. In the October-December period, he increased the position by 81%.
Layne’s shares lost 44.15% during the past year and closed 2014 at a price of $9.74 each. The last closing price is at $4.77, so the return in a year-to-date basis is negative 50%. However, days ago, Arnold Van Den Berg (Trades, Portfolio) upped his stake by 22% to 2,976,945 shares, valued at $14.2 million.
Layne is a water management, construction and drilling company. The company has five segments: Water Resources Division, Inliner Division, Heavy Civil Division, Geoconstruction Division and Mineral Exploration Division. In 2013, it announced the launch of the water transfer business within the Layne Energy Services Division. Layne is currently providing these services for its clients operating in the Permian Basin.
Disclosure: Omar Venerio holds no position in any stocks mentioned
