Zeke Ashton (Trades, Portfolio) is the managing partner of Centaur Capital Partners and manages the investments for the Centaur Value Fund. He manages a portfolio composed of 29 stocks with a total value of $52 million. The following are his best investments of the year.
Brown & Brown Inc. (BRO) with a market cap of $6.28 billion has gained 41.4% year to date. The guru's stake represents 3.61% of his total assets.
It is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance programs and services organization that markets and sells its customers insurance products and services, mainly in the property and casualty areas.
It is trading with a price-earnings (P/E) ratio of 24.57; over the last 12 months the price has risen by 40%, trading now 1.89% below its 52-week high and 57.55% above its 52-week low. The stock is overpriced by 130% at $44.89 per share. The DCF calculator gives a fair value of $19.48. The Peter Lynch earnings line suggests a fair value of $27.3.
GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The return on equity (ROE) of 11.31% and return on assets (ROA) of 5.01% are outperforming 78% of the companies in the Global Insurance Brokers industry. Financial strength has a rating of 5 out of 10. The cash to debt of 0.45 is below the industry median of 6.98.
First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder among the gurus with 4.92% of outstanding shares followed by Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio) with 2.26%, Meridian Funds (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.64%, HOTCHKIS & WILEY with 1.41%, Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.22% and Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.06%.
CSX Corp. (CSX) with a market cap of $34.37 billion has gained 44.0% year to date. The guru's stake represents 0.02% of his total assets.
The company operates as a transportation supplier. It provides rail-based transportation services including traditional rail service and the transport of intermodal containers and trailers.
CSX is trading with a P/E ratio of 20.38; over the last 12 months the price has risen by 40%, trading now 1.95% below its 52-week high and 72.01% above its 52-week low. The stock is overpriced by 17% at $36.65 per share. The DCF calculator gives a fair value of $31.25. The Peter Lynch earnings line gives a fair value of $27.
GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The ROE of 14.80% and ROA of 4.99% are outperforming 70% of the companies in the Global Railroads industry. Financial strength has a rating of 5 out of 10 with a cash to debt of 0.07 that is below the industry median of 0.31.
Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder among the gurus with 0.66% of outstanding shares followed by Sarah Ketterer (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.54%, PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.53%, Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.08%, Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.06%, NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.02% and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.02%.
TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD) with a market cap of $23.22 billion has gained 30.1% year to date. The guru's stake represents 2.01% of his total assets.
The company is a provider of securities brokerage services and related technology-based financial services to retail investors, traders and independent registered investment advisers.
TD Ameritrade is trading with a P/E ratio of 28.11; over the last 12 months the price has risen by 26%, trading now 1.32% below its 52-week high and 77.45% above its 52-week low. The stock is overpriced by 163% at the price of $44.47 per share. The DCF calculator gives a fair value of $16.8, and the Peter Lynch earnings line gives a fair value of $23.6.
GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The ROE of 16.99% and ROA of 3.11% are outperforming 68% of the companies in the Global Capital Markets industry. Financial strength has an overall rating of 6 out of 10 with a cash to debt of 1.02 that is below the industry median of 6.98.
The largest shareholder among the gurus is Chuck Akre (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.56% of outstanding shares followed by Pioneer Investments with 0.1% and Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.02%.
Alleghany Corp. (Y) with a market cap of $9.44 billion has gained 28.4% year to date. The guru's stake represents 8.35% of his total assets.
The company is engaged in the property and casualty reinsurance and insurance business; it is also engaged in private capital investments.
Alleghany is trading with a P/E ratio of 17.59; over the last 12 months the price has risen by 27%, trading now 0.83% below its 52-week high and 37.11% above its 52-week low. The stock is undervalued with a margin of safety of 25% at the price of $613.74 per share. The DCF calculator gives a fair value of $808.72. The Peter Lynch earnings line gives a fair value of $523.
GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The ROE of 6.97% and ROA of 2.32% are underperforming 62% of the companies in the Global Insurance - Property & Casualty industry. Financial strength has a rating of 6 out of 10. The cash to debt of 0.41 is below the industry median of 2.58.
The largest shareholder among the gurus is First Eagle Investment with 3.92% of outstanding shares followed by Royce with 1.19%, First Pacific Advisors (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.09%, Steven Romick (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.99%, Third Avenue Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.54%, Martin Whitman (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.47% and Diamond Hill Capital with 0.25%.
The Priceline Group Inc. (PCLN) with a market cap of $74.2 billion has gained 16.6% year to date. The guru's stake represents 3.66% of his total assets.
It is a provider of online travel and travel-related reservation and search services. The company offers consumers accommodation reservations through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands. Over the last 12 months the price has risen by 16% trading now 7.47% below its 52-week high and 55.27% above its 52-week low. The stock is overpriced by 33% at the price of $1,486.20 per share. The DCF calculator gives a fair value of $1,117.38, and the Peter Lynch earnings line gives a fair value of $588.1.
GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 9 out of 10. The ROE of 21.62% and ROA of 10.67% are outperforming 87% of the companies in the Global Leisure industry. Financial strength has a rating of 6 out of 10. The cash to debt of 0.60 is below the industry median of 0.64.
Frank Sands (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder among the gurus with 2.75% of outstanding shares followed by Chase Coleman (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.87%, Dodge & Cox with 1.64%, Steve Mandel (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.16%, Lee Ainslie (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.83%, Spiros Segalas (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.72%, Manning & Napier Advisors Inc. with 0.56% and David Rolfe (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.44%.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) with a market cap of $620.09 billion has gained 12.8% year to date. The guru's stake represents 5.63% of his total assets.
The company designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers and portable digital music players and sells a variety of related software, services, accessories, networking solutions and third-party digital content.
Over the last 12 months the price has risen by 7% trading now 2.02% below its 52-week high and 29.98% above its 52-week low. The stock is undervalued with a margin of safety of 51% at $116.15 with the DCF calculator that gives a fair value of $236. The Peter Lynch earnings line gives a fair value of $124.3.
GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The ROE of 36.10% and ROA of 15.07% are outperforming 95% of the companies in the Global Consumer Electronics industry. Financial strength has a rating of 6 out of 10. The cash to debt of 0.77 is below the industry median of 1.32.
The largest shareholder among the gurus is Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.29% of outstanding shares followed by Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.21%, Pioneer Investments with 0.17%, Segalas with 0.16%, Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.11%, David Einhorn (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.1%, Rolfe with 0.08% and Coleman with 0.07%.
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) with a market cap of $26.73 billion has gained 11.8% year to date. The guru's stake represents 4.45% of his total assets.
The company is a specialty retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, tools, supplies, equipment and accessories in the U.S., selling its products to both do-it-yourself "DIY" and professional service provider customers.
It is trading with a P/E ratio of 27.39, and the price is now 3.36% below its 52-week high and 25.71% above its 52-week low. The stock is undervalued with a margin of safety of 4% at price of $283.22. The DCF calculator gives a fair value of $294.08, and the Peter Lynch earnings line gives a fair value of $154.9.
GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 9 out of 10. The ROE of 53.20% and ROA of 14.19% are underperforming 88% of the companies
in the Global Specialty Retail industry. Financial strength has a rating of 6 out of 10 with a cash to debt of 0.30 that is below the industry median of 0.71.
Segalas is the largest shareholder among the gurus with 2.01% of outstanding shares followed by Ruane Cunniff with 1.96%, Ainslie with 1.03%, Akre with 0.88%, Pioneer Investments with 0.83%, Eric Mindich (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.42% and Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.32%.
Disclosure: Of the above mentioned stocks I own some shares of Apple.
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