Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) is the chairman and CEO of GAMCO Investors (GBL, Financial), a firm he founded in 1977. The firm has $49.4 billion in assets under management as of June 30, with more than 30 analysts on its research team.
GAMCO originally began as an institutional research firm and has evolved into a diversified financial services company, though institutional research continues to be an important part of the firm. Its mutual funds cover a variety of philosophies and sectors, including value, growth, contrarian, socially responsive, gold equity, and money market.
Gabelli is one of the highest paid CEOs among all listed companies in the U.S. In 2012, his compensation was $69 million, behind only Lawrence Ellison of Oracle (ORCL, Financial) and Elon Musk of Tesla (TSLA, Financial).
The following are the changes to GAMCO’s portfolio since the beginning of the month:
Buy
GAMCO Investors (GBL, Financial)
Gabelli repurchased 899,086 shares of his firm, GAMCO Investors.
Profits have increased steadily since 2009, recording at $348.6 million in FY 2013.
Both return on equity and assets reached a high in FY 2013 at 28.33% and 16.69%, respectively. The firm’s debt-to-equity ratio decreased in the same year to its second-lowest point since 2004.
Add
Gabelli owns 675,977 shares of SWS Group after increasing the number by 21.82% on Oct. 14. He has owned shares of the company since the second quarter of 2011 and only sold shares once –Â in the first quarter 2014.
SWS is a financial services holding company that offers a range of investment, commercial banking and other financial services to corporate and institutional investors, brokers and financial intermediaries.
Revenue growth over the past 10 years has been -2.4%. Return on equity and assets have been in the red every year since FY 2010. Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) sold out of his holdings in June.
GuruFocus ranks SWS’ financial strength as 5/10 and profitability and growth as 3/10.
Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio) owns the highest percentage of shares outstanding of the Gurus we follow at 2.2%.
Bolt Technology (BOLT, Financial)
Gabelli owns a total of 589,600 shares of Bolt, after increasing the number by 13.41%. He has owned shares since early September.
Bolt develops, manufactures and sells marine seismic data acquisition equipment and underwater remotely-operated robotic vehicles.
Gross margin reached a high of 50.94% in FY 2014, and the company holds no long-term debt.
All recorded insider trades since 2008 have been repurchases of the stock, a good sign that Bolt’s management is confident in the company’s future.
John Rogers (Trades, Portfolio) owns 6.34% of shares outstanding, while Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) owns 2.47%.
Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings (CCO, Financial)
Gabelli currently owns 2,679,159 shares of Clear Channel after increasing the number by 10.19% on Oct. 1.
Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings was formed in 1997 when Clear Channel Communications entered the outdoor advertising industry with its acquisition of Eller Media Company. It is a publicly traded subsidiary of iHeartMedia (IHRT, Financial). The company provides advertising opportunities through billboards, street furniture displays, transit displays, as wells as wallscapes and mall displays.
Clear Channel’s stock has been down 27% since the beginning of the year. Revenue growth has been -0.1% over the past 10 years, while free cash flow growth has been -10.6% over the same period.
A few other metrics also spell out trouble for Clear Channel: Return on equity and assets were negative in FY 2013 at -62.04% and -0.7%, respectively.
Other Gurus who own Clear Channel stock are David Abrams (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), and Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio).
Gabelli also increased his holding in Sevcon (SEV, Financial) by 0.24% for a total of 958,173 shares, and by 0.92% in Boulder Brands (BDBD, Financial) for a total of 3,034,632 shares. Sevcon designs and manufactures AC and DC motor controllers and system components. Boulder Brands sells food products in the U.S. and Canada under brand names including Smart Balance, Earth Balance, and Bestlife.
Reduce
Gabelli’s largest reduction this month is his holding in Layne Christensen (LAYN, Financial). Gabelli now owns 1,780,518 shares, a 9.84% reduction.
Layne Christensen is a water management, construction, and drilling company with operations in North America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and Brazil.
The company’s stock price has declined 58% since the start of the year, and the Peter Lynch chart suggests Layne Christensen may be overvalued, especially compared to its history.
Arnold Van Den Berg (Trades, Portfolio) also reduced his holdings in August and September.
Gabelli reduced his positions in three other companies this month: Edgewater Technology (EDGW, Financial), Tennant Co (TNC) and SL Industries (SLI).
