What Bill Ackman Bought and Left in the Second Quarter

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Aug 16, 2012
Bill Ackman, the activist investor of Pershing Square currently involved in a turnaround strategy at J.C. Penney, has a concentrated portfolio of nine stocks. In the second quarter, he bought one massive new position: The Procter & Gamble Company (PG, Financial).

The Procter & Gamble Company (PG)

Ackman bought 21,916,208 shares of The Procter & Gamble Company at an average price of $64 in the second quarter of 2012. The holding is 17.7% of his portfolio, equating to 0.80% of the company’s shares outstanding, and making it his second largest position. The stock is up 5% from that share price.

The Procter & Gamble Company manufactures and markets a broad range of consumer products in many countries throughout the world. The Procter & Gamble Company has a market cap of $182.97 billion; its shares were traded at around $66.98 with a P/E ratio of 17.2 and P/S ratio of 2.2. The dividend yield of The Procter & Gamble Company stocks is 3.4%. The Procter & Gamble Company had an annual average earnings growth of 6.5% over the past 10 years.

Ackman is planning to push for changes at the company, which he discussed on CNBC in July. “It’s very hard to lose money in our opinion at P&G at the current share price,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ackman exited several positions:

Fortune Brands Home & Security (FBHS, Financial)

Ackman sold out his remaining 13,323,249 shares of Fortune Brands Home & Security at an average price of $22. He made a significant profit on the holding which he purchased in the fourth quarter of 2011 at an average price of $15.

Fortune Brands Home & Security provides home and security products in the U.S. Fortune Brands Home & Security has a market cap of $3.58 billion; its shares were traded at around $24.19 with a P/E ratio of 31.1 and P/S ratio of 1.1.

Family Dollar Stores (FDO, Financial)

Ackman exited his position of 2,614,863 shares at an average price of $67. He acquired the position over the first, second and third quarters of 2011 at average prices of $48, $53 and $52. The stock has declined 4% since then.

Family Dollar Stores is one of the fastest growing discount store chains in the U.S. Family Dollar Stores has a market cap of $7.45 billion; its shares were traded at around $64.7 with a P/E ratio of 18 and P/S ratio of 0.9. The dividend yield of Family Dollar Stores stocks is 1.3%. Family Dollar Stores had an annual average earnings growth of 10.8% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Family Dollar Stores the business predictability rank of 4-star.

Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT, Financial)

Ackman closed his position in Kraft Foods in the second quarter. He sold his remaining 15,506,172 shares at an average price of $39. He bought the majority of the holding in the first quarter of 2010 at an average price of $29.

Kraft Foods is the largest branded food and beverage company headquartered in the U.S. Kraft Foods has a market cap of $72.55 billion; its shares were traded at around $40.7 with a P/E ratio of 17.1 and P/S ratio of 1.3. The dividend yield of Kraft Foods stocks is 2.8%. Kraft Foods had an annual average earnings growth of 0.4% over the past 10 years.

See Bill Ackman’s portfolio here. Also check out the Undervalued Stocks, Top Growth Companies and High Yield stocks of Bill Ackman.