Hide

FocusBar

Subscribe to Premium Member
Free 7-day Trial
All Articles and Columns »

Why I Sold Premier Exhibitions

April 05, 2012 | About:
In the January Issue of Ultimate Value Finder, I included Premier Exhibitions as one of three investment ideas. Since then, the stock has more than doubled. However, over the last few days, the stock price declined from $3.75 per share to as low as $2.58 per share. As a result of the sharp price decline, I received several e-mails about whether I am buying, holding, or selling Premier Exhibitions.

I sold my entire position at the end of March for approximately $3.20 per share. The reason why I sold it was because the price ran up so much so quickly that I did not find the risk and reward scenario appealing anymore. I ran the following back-of-the-envelope calculation:

$190 million for artifacts + $100 million for salvage rights = $290 million

$290 million – 10% for auction fees and CEO’s incentive compensation = $261 million

$261 – 30% for taxes = $183 million/48 million shares = $3.80 per share

At $3.20 per share, I faced the following options:

  1. Take $3.20 per share and reinvest in something else, or
  2. Wait for the auction results to get $3.80 per share while facing the possibility of an unsuccessful auction
I chose option number one.

Yes, the Titanic artifacts could sell for much more but I am not in the business of buying undervalued companies and hoping to sell them when they become overvalued. I am in the business of buying extremely undervalued companies and selling them when they become reasonably priced.

About the author:

Mariusz Skonieczny is the founder and president of Classic Value Investors, LLC, an investment management firms that builds and manages customized investment portfolios for its clients. He is the author of Why Are we So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn How to Invest Your Money, How to Pick Stocks, and How to Make Money in the Stock Market. Email: mskonieczny [at] classicvalueinvestors [dot] com. Webpage: www.classicvalueinvestors.com

Visit Mariusz Skonieczny's Website

Tickers in the article:

What Worked in the Stock Market for Long-Term Investors?

Extensive research has found that the companies with predictable revenues and earnings outperform the market average; they also suffer lower probability of loss. As a matter of fact, this kind of companies are exactly what Warren Buffett wants to buy and hold forever. Please read the research about what worked in the stock market:

Part I: What worked in the market from 1998-2008? Part I: Predictability Rank
Part II: Role of Valuations
Part III: Intrinsic Value, Discounted Cash Flow and Margin of Safety


Rating: 2.6/5 (11 votes)

Comments

AlbertaSunwapta
AlbertaSunwapta - 1 year ago
I've done that. And then the odd mistake (a couple value traps but more often than not some accounting fraud) has wiped out my gains because I've introduced a downside bias/risk. Or as Peter Lynch once described it as 'picking the flowers and leaving the weeds.'

Please leave your comment:


More Gurufocus Links

Get WordPress Plugins for easy affiliate links on Stock Tickers and Guru Names | Earn affiliate commissions by embedding GuruFocus Charts
GuruFocus Affiliate Program: Earn up to $400 per referral. ( Learn More)
Free 7-day Trial
FEEDBACK

This article has been successfully added into your Bookmark.

Members Only. Please Sign Up or Log In first.

Bookmark of this article has been deleted.