Francis Chou (Trades, Portfolio)’s fourth-quarter portfolio activity consisted of three transactions, which seems light for an investment guru. Nevertheless, while that is half the volume of his third-quarter activity, it is triple his activity of the first and second quarters.
Chou’s most noteworthy fourth-quarter trade was the nearly 10% increase in his stake in Resolute Forest Products Inc. (RFP, Financial), a Montreal-based pulp and paper products provider. Chou purchased 423,691 shares for an average price of $8.13 per share. The transaction had a 1.1% impact on Chou’s portfolio.
The stake, now 4,704,909 shares, is 5.26% of Resolute Forest Products’ outstanding shares and 12.27% of Chou’s total assets. Resolute Forest Products’ leading shareholder among the gurus is Prem Watsa (Trades, Portfolio) with a stake of 29,048,190 shares. The stake is 32.46% of Resolute Forest Products’ outstanding shares and 17.8% of Watsa’s total assets.
Resolute Forest Products has a forward P/E of 25.9, a P/B of 0.3 and a P/S of 0.1. GuruFocus gives Resolute Forest Products a Financial Strength rating of 6/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 3/10.
Resolute Forest Products sold for $5.65 per share Friday. It is the second-most valuable stake in Chou’s portfolio.
Chou raised his stake in Ascent Capital Group Inc. (ASCMA, Financial), a Denver-based holding company whose main subsidiary is Dallas-based Monitronics International, a security alarm monitoring company, by more than 7%.
The guru paid an average price of $21.34 per share for 23,409 shares. The deal had a 0.13% impact on Chou’s portfolio.
The stake, now 340,000 shares, is 2.68% of Ascent Capital Group’s outstanding shares and 1.96% of Chou’s total assets. Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) is Ascent Capital Group’s leading shareholder among the gurus with a stake of 956,988. The stake is 7.54% of Ascent Capital Group’s outstanding shares and 0.1% of Gabelli’s total assets.
Ascent Capital Group has a forward P/E of 29.8, a P/B of 0.6 and a P/S of 0.4. GuruFocus gives Ascent Capital Group a Financial Strength rating of 6/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 6/10.
Ascent Capital Group sold for $15.94 per share Friday.
Chou trimmed his stake in AstraZeneca PLC (AZN, Financial), a London-based pharmaceutical company, by 50% with the sale of 13,000 shares for an average price of $32.84 per share. The transaction had a -0.14% impact on Chou’s portfolio.
The remaining stake of 13,000 shares is 0.3% of Chou’s total assets. AstraZeneca’s leading shareholder among the gurus is Dodge & Cox with a stake of 11,777,132 shares. The stake is 0.47% of AstraZeneca’s outstanding shares and 0.39% of Dodge & Cox’s total assets.
AstraZeneca has a P/E of 26.4, a forward P/E of 13.4, a P/B of 4 and a P/S of 3. GuruFocus gives AstraZeneca a Financial Strength rating of 6/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 5/10.
AstraZeneca sold for $28.48 per share Friday.
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