It should come as no surprise that the best ideas from a group of renowned professional investors would take off. Checking in on the stocks recommended at last year’s value conference proves they not only gained on average, but substantially outperformed the S&P 500 index.
Though researching anyone’s selections independently before investing is recommended, if investors had purchased every stock presented at the 2016 conference, they would already have made an 8.5% gain since April 29 – when most funds are struggling for returns. These stocks also returned more than double the 3.3% rise of the index over the same time.
As seen in the conference ideas portfolio, WPX Energy Inc. (WPX, Financial) has had the best performance, rising 25.58%. The independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused primarily on the Delaware Basin, “one of Wall Street’s top turnaround stories, recently completed a $5.5 billion transformation. It is adding more rigs and property, and projects that it will produce 100,000 barrels of oil per day by 2020, from less than 50,000 in mid-2016.
HP Inc. (HPQ, Financial), the tech company focused on personal computers, printers and mobile devices, followed close behind with a 23.32% rise. The company was formerly Hewlett Packard until it spun off part of the business to form Hewlett Packard Enterprise in November 2015. Since then, it has unveiled a string of new products and innovations, and had a low valuation, with a P/E of 7.27 near the end of September. HP Inc. impressed Wall Street in the third quarter, beating its own projections for EPS and returning more than $250 million to shareholders in share repurchases and dividends.
In third place, Apple Inc. (AAPL, Financial) has jumped 20.78% since David Rolfe (Trades, Portfolio) of Wedgewood Partners dispelled uncertainty surrounding the company’s stock with a clear explanation of its value. The $598.1 billion tech company released its latest iteration of its most famous product, the iPhone 7, in September, maintains its $61.76 billion cash stockpile and has a number of rumored projects in the works.
Four speakers’ recommendations have declined since the conference. As long-term value investors, a dip in one of their recommendations means the market has yet to recognize its value, and it is selling for an even steeper discount. Of the four, Visteon Corp. (VC, Financial) has fallen 10.62% and Kirby Corp. (KEX, Financial) lost 7.32%. The two others have fallen less than a percent: Deere (DE, Financial) is down 0.29%, and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B, Financial) slid 0.98%.
Discussions of more stocks from the world’s premiere investors will take place at the 2017 Value Conference. Tickets for individuals or groups are available for purchase here.
