Manning & Napier Advisors Buys VeriFone Systems Inc.

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Jan 23, 2013
Among 19 other transactions reported by the firm on Dec. 31, New-York based investment manager, Manning & Napier Advisors (MN) has declared a stake in electronic payment solutions provider, VeriFone Systems Inc. (PAY, Financial), according to GuruFocus Real Time Picks

The new holding totals 6,435,730 shares, placing Manning & Napier at 5.93 percent owner of VeriFone’s outstanding shares. The transaction made a 1.13 percent impact to the firm’s portfolio.

A global company, VeriFone serves a wide range of sectors, in the point of sales with merchant-operated, consumer-facing and self-service payment systems.

In five years, the company gained 104.06 percent in market value. In the last year however, its price has deflated about 16 percent.

Its 10-Year Financials indicate a 23.6 percent revenue growth rate in the past 12 months, as well as an 82 percent EBITDA growth rate and a 16.6 percent free cash flow growth rate.

Forecasting for 2013, the company expects to report a total non-GAAP net revenue between the range of $2.05 billion and $2.1 billion. The company also anticipates a non-GAAP net income per diluted share in the range of $3.25 and $3.30, as well as a free cash flow of $285 million to $315 million.

Today, VeriFone’s stock is up 3.63 percent, at the price of $34.93 this afternoon.

Looks like several investors have mixed confidence levels in VeriFone. While Manning & Napier bought the stock in December, Guru Ken Fisher sold out. Way ahead of Fisher, Meridian Funds and RS Investment Management sold out their stakes in the third quarter of last year, while Jeremy Grantham purchased the stock as a new buy in the same period. (PAY: Holding History)

Besides reporting VeriFone as a new buy, Manning & Napier also made some moves on some of its larger holdings. Among Manning’s eight stake increases, the firm added 3 percent to its stake in Amdocs Ltd. (DOX, Financial), which is 2.4 percent of its portfolio, as of Sept. 30. And out of the 11 stake reductions, Manning decreased its stake in Southwest Airlines (LUV, Financial) by 3.13 percent and Virgin Media Inc. (VMED, Financial) by 0.42 percent; Southwest represents 1.9 percent of the firm’s portfolio, while Virgin Media represents 2.7 percent.

As of Sept. 30, Manning & Napier’s top three largest holdings are Google (GOOG, Financial), Schlumberger (SLB, Financial) and Hess Corp. (HES, Financial).

Founded in 1970 by former Merrill Lynch broker, Bill Napier, Manning & Napier sets an investment goal of providing “competitive absolute returns over full market cycles” across its variety of equity, fixed income and blended asset portfolios. The firm targets cyclical industries that are in a downturn, and relies on an investment committee for stock picking, as opposed to individual fund managers.

As reported by GuruFocus, Manning & Napier beat the S&P 500 index for 11 consecutive years, its streak ending in 2010, when Manning & Napier Pro-Blend Maximum Term turned up one point shy from the S&P, returning 14.1 percent compared to the latter’s 15.1 percent.

Still, Manning & Napier’s streak is respected among analysts and investors on Wall Street. The firm is headed by CEO Patrick Cunningham, President Jeffrey S. Coons, CFO James Mikolaichik and Co-founder/Board Chairman William Manning. The company has been publicly traded since Nov. 18, 2011.

Although its fourth quarter updates have not been turned in as of yet, its latest trades are viewable at Manning & Napier Advisor’s Stock Picks. Also view its undervalued stocks, its top growth companies and its high yield stocks.

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