Van Den Berg Trades in Canadian Mining Stocks in First Quarter

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May 07, 2015
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Value investor Arnold Van Den Berg (Trades, Portfolio) founded Century Management in Austin, Texas, more than 40 years ago. Austin is a long way from the Canadian border, but that didn’t keep Van Den Berg from dealing in – mostly selling but, in one case, buying – shares in eight Canadian-based stocks in the first quarter.

Van Den Berg sold his 365,155-share stake in Asanko Gold Inc (TSX:AKG, Financial), a Vancouver-based gold mining company whose crown jewel is a gold mine in Ghana. Van Den Berg sold the shares for an average price of $1.54 per share with an impact of -0.064% to his portfolio.

Asanko has a market cap of $262.8 million and an enterprise value of $84.47 million. It has a Price/Book of 0.7. When the closing bell rang Thursday, Asanko was selling for $1.51 per share.

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Van Den Berg divested himself of his 1,563,121-stake in Rio Alto Mining Ltd (TSX:RIO, Financial), another Vancouver-based gold mining company. Van Den Berg sold his shares for an average price of $2.78 per share. The sale had a -0.44% impact on Van Den Berg’s portfolio.

At the close of trading Thursday, Rio Alto was selling for $3.48 per share.

Rio Alto has a market cap of $821.54 million and an enterprise value of $771.86 million. It has a P/E of 12.9, a Price/Book of 1.5 and a Price/Sales of 2.6.

In the previous quarter, Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio) also sold his stake in Rio Alto.

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Van Den Berg also sold his 680,625-share stake in Timmins Gold Corp (TSX:TMM, Financial), a Vancouver-based gold company, for an average price of $0.92 per share. The transaction had a -0.074% impact on Van Den Berg’s portfolio. When trading concluded on Thursday, Timmins was selling for $0.62 per share.

Timmins has a market cap of $111.51 million and an enterprise value of 94.6 million. It has a P/E of 122, a Price/Book of 0.5 and a Price/Sales of 0.8.

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Van Den Berg reduced his holdings in four companies – Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (TSX:AEM, Financial), Eldorado Gold Corp (TSX:ELD, Financial), Kinross Gold Corp (TSX:K, Financial) and Seabridge Gold Inc (TSX:SEA).

He sold 73,179 shares of Agnico, a Toronto-based gold producer, for an average price of $30.75 per share. The sale had a -0.2% impact on Van Den Berg’s portfolio.

At the end of trading Thursday, Agnico was selling for $31.39 per share.

Agnico has a market cap of $6.67 billion and an enterprise value of $7.74 billion. Its P/E is 240, its Price/Book is 1.5, and its Price/Sales is 3.3.

Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), John Hussman (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), John Paulson (Trades, Portfolio) and Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Agnico in their portfolios. George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) sold his stake in the fourth quarter of 2014.

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Van Den Berg sold 182,473 shares of Eldorado Gold, a Vancouver-based gold mining company, for an average price of $5.48 per share. The transaction had a -0.13% impact on Van Den Berg’s portfolio. When the closing bell rang Thursday, Eldorado Gold sold for $4.93 per share.

Eldorado Gold has a market cap of $3.45 billion and an enterprise value of $3.79 billion. It has a P/E of 60.1, a Price/Book of 0.6 and a Price/Sales of 3.4.

Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio) and Ronald Muhlenkamp (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Eldorado Gold in their portfolios.

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Van Den Berg sold 62,391 shares of Kinross, a Toronto-based gold company, for an average price of $2.91 per share. The sale had a -0.02% impact on Van Den Berg’s portfolio.

Kinross sold for $2.43 per share when the trading session ended Thursday.

Kinross has a market cap of $2.76 billion and an enterprise value of $3.8 billion. It has a Price/Book of 0.5 and a Price/Sales of 0.8. Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Donald Smith (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio) and Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Kinross in their portfolios.

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Van Den Berg sold 135,319 shares of Seabridge Gold, a Toronto-based mining company that mines silver and copper as well as gold, for an average price of $7.8 per share. The sale had a -0.12% impact on his portfolio.

Seabridge sold for $6.15 per share when the closing bell rang Thursday.

Seabridge Gold has a market cap of $293 million and an enterprise value of $282.14 million. It has a Price/Book of 1.4 and a Price/Sales of 0.

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Van Den Berg more than doubled his stake in Yamana Gold Inc (TSX:YRI), a Toronto-based mining company, buying 1,244,041 shares for an average price of $4.05 per share. That transaction had a 0.63% impact on his portfolio and raised the volume of his stake to 2,407,291 shares.

Yamana sold for $3.76 per share when trading concluded Thursday.

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Yamana has a market cap of $3.48 billion and an enterprise value of $5.09 billion. It has a Price/Book of 0.5 and a Price/Sales of 1.6.

Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio), Donald Smith (Trades, Portfolio) and Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Yamana in their portfolios. Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio) sold his stake in the fourth quarter of 2014.

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