Zeke Ashton (Trades, Portfolio), managing partner of Centaur Capital Partners and manager of Tilson Dividend Fund, enjoyed a 7.2% return rate at Tilson last year. Many investors would be ecstatic to have that kind of success in last year’s uncertain environment, but Tilson was conditioned to expect better. Tilson’s returns were in double digits in 2012 and 2013.
Ashton’s most noteworthy third-quarter transaction was his divestiture of a 93,700-share stake in Greenlight Capital Re Ltd. (GLRE, Financial), a New York-based hedge fund best known for short selling Lehman Brothers just before its collapse in 2008. Ashton received an average price of $20.18 per share in a deal that had a -4.71% impact on his portfolio.
Greenlight Capital has a market cap of $764.62 million and an enterprise value of $689.52 million. It has a forward P/E of 5.4, a P/B of 0.9 and a P/S of 3.9. GuruFocus has given Greenlight Capital a Financial Strength rating of 7/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 6/10.
Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio), Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio) and Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Greenlight Capital in their portfolios.
On Friday Greenlight Capital sold for $20.65 per share.
Ashton also sold his 112,875-share stake in Vector Group Ltd. (VGR, Financial), a Miami-based holding company, for an average price of $23.16 per share. The transaction had a -4.34% impact on Ashton’s portfolio.
Vector Group has a market cap of $3.08 billion and an enterprise value of $3.52 billion. It has a P/E of 48.2, a forward P/E of 31.5 and a P/S of 1.8. GuruFocus has given Vector Group a Financial Strength rating of 7/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 7/10.
Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) and Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Vector Group in their portfolios.
Vector Group sold for $25.16 per share Friday.
Ashton made seven new buys in the quarter, the most significant being his acquisition of a 23,000-share stake in Parker Hannifin Corp. (PH, Financial), a Mayfield Heights, Ohio-based motion and control technologies company, for an average price of $108.59 per share. The deal had a 3.5% impact on Ashton’s portfolio.
Parker Hannifin has a market cap of $14.1 billion and an enterprise value of $15.67 billion. It has a P/E of 15.9, a forward P/E of 16.9, a P/B of 2.9 and a P/S of 1.2. GuruFocus has given Parker Hannifin a Financial Strength rating of 8/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10.
Richard Pzena (Trades, Portfolio), HOTCHKIS & WILEY, Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio), Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio), Robert Olstein (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Tom Gayner (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Manning & Napier Advisors Inc., Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) and Dodge & Cox have shares of Parker Hannifin in their portfolios.
On Friday Parker Hannifin sold for $103.7 per share.
Ashton bought a 3,000-share stake in Alphabet Inc. (GOOG, Financial), a California-based conglomerate formed this year as the parent company of Google, for an average price of $614.57 per share. The transaction had a 2.86% impact on Ashton’s portfolio.
Alphabet has a market cap of $515.97 billion and an enterprise value of $461.94 billion. It has a P/E of 33.2, a forward P/E of 22.2, a P/B of 4.6 and a P/S of 7.2. GuruFocus has given Alphabet a Financial Strength rating of 8/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10.
Dodge & Cox, PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio), Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio), Mason Hawkins (Trades, Portfolio), Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio), Frank Sands (Trades, Portfolio), Lee Ainslie (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Manning & Napier Advisors Inc., Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), First Pacific Advisors (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Romick (Trades, Portfolio), John Burbank (Trades, Portfolio), Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio), David Tepper (Trades, Portfolio), Tweedy Browne (Trades, Portfolio), Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio), David Rolfe (Trades, Portfolio), Tweedy Browne (Trades, Portfolio) Global Value, Mohnish Pabrai (Trades, Portfolio), Julian Robertson (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Eric Mindich (Trades, Portfolio), Charles de Vaulx (Trades, Portfolio), Robert Karr (Trades, Portfolio), RS Investment Management (Trades, Portfolio), Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio), David Winters (Trades, Portfolio), Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Heebner (Trades, Portfolio), Wintergreen Fund (Trades, Portfolio), Signature Select Canadian Fund (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Tom Gayner (Trades, Portfolio), Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio), Richard Snow (Trades, Portfolio), Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Cibelli (Trades, Portfolio), Tom Russo (Trades, Portfolio) and Bill Frels (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Alphabet in their portfolios.
Alphabet sold for $750.26 per share Friday.
Ashton acquired a 75,000-share stake in Tetra Technologies Inc. (TTI, Financial), an oil and gas services company based in The Woodlands, Texas, for an average price of $6.34 per share. The deal had a 2.85% impact on Ashton’s portfolio.
Tetra Technologies has a market cap of $726.89 million and an enterprise value of $1.99 billion. It has a forward P/E of 41.2, a P/B of 2.0 and a P/S of 0.6. GuruFocus has given Tetra Technologies a Financial Strength rating of 6/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 6/10.
Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) and Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Tetra Technologies in their portfolios.
On Friday Tetra Technologies sold for $9.06 per share.
Ashton raised his stake in FLIR Systems Inc. (FLIR, Financial), a Wilsonville, Ore.-based thermal imaging technology company, by nearly 50%. Ashton bought 33,000 shares for an average price of $29.52 per share. The transaction had a 1.45% impact on Ashton’s portfolio.
FLIR Systems has a market cap of $4.18 billion and an enterprise value of $4.02 billion. It has a P/E of 17.5, a P/B of 2.6 and a P/S of 2.8. GuruFocus has given FLIR Systems a Financial Strength rating of 8/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10.
Manning & Napier Advisors Inc., Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio), Columbia Wanger (Trades, Portfolio), Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio), Meridian Funds (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio) and First Pacific Advisors (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of FLIR Systems in their portfolios.
FLIR Systems sold for $30.27 per share Friday.
Ashton reduced his stake in Trinity Biotech PLC (TRIB, Financial), an Irish company specializing in diagnostic test kits, by more than 35%. Ashton sold 42,500 shares for an average price of $16.09 per share in a deal that had a -1.32% impact on his portfolio.
Trinity Biotech has a market cap of $281.51 million and an enterprise value of $276.26 million. It has a P/E of 21.9, a forward P/E of 27.1, a P/B of 1.6 and a P/S of 3.0. GuruFocus has given Trinity Biotech a Financial Strength rating of 8/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 4/10.
Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Trinity Biotech in their portfolios.
On Friday Trinity Biotech sold for $11.94 per share.
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