Arnold Van Den Berg (Trades, Portfolio), manager of Century Management, disclosed Feb. 2 he expanded his positions in three companies during fourth-quarter 2017: Prem Watsa (Trades, Portfolio)’s Fairfax India Holdings Corp. (FFXDF, Financial), Ensco PLC (ESV, Financial) and Apache Corp. (APA, Financial). The manager also established positions in Allergan PLC (AGN, Financial), Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR, Financial) and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ, Financial).
Fairfax India Holdings
Van Den Berg added 591,821 shares of Fairfax India for an average price of $16.37 per share. With this transaction, the fund manager expanded his portfolio 1.2%.
Fairfax India’s investing objective is to achieve long-term capital appreciation primarily through public and private equity securities in Indian companies. The company earns income through interest and dividends. As of Feb. 2, Fairfax India’s return on equity of 22.76% outperforms 95% of global competitors.
Ensco
Van Den Berg added 4,179,980 shares of Ensco for an average price of $5.54. With this transaction, the fund manager increased his portfolio 3.35%.
London-based Ensco, which owns one of the newest deep-water fleets in the contract drilling industry, provides drilling services to national and international oil companies around the globe. While the company’s Altman Z-score implies financial distress, Ensco still has profit margins that outperform over 72% of global oil and gas drilling companies.
Apache
Van Den Berg added 292,242 shares of Apache for an average price of $42.09. With this transaction, the fund manager increased his portfolio 1.67%.
Houston-based Apache engages in several activities, including the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas. Although the company has a strong Piotroski F-score of 7, Apache still has a modest financial strength rank of 4 primarily due to weak interest coverage and Altman Z-scores.
Apache still has some growth potential as the company’s operating margin and dividend yield are close to a 10-year high. The company’s dividend yield is currently 2.35%, close to its 10-year high of 2.83%.
T Rowe Price Equity Income Fund (Trades, Portfolio) manager John Linehan increased his Apache position 19.19% during the quarter.
Allergan
Van Den Berg invested in 162,205 shares of Allergan for an average price of $179.54 per. With this transaction, the fund manager increased his portfolio 3.6%.
Allergan reported in a Feb. 1 current report filing that it will pay $700 million in settlement charges to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. (TEVA, Financial). While Allergan has a modest profitability rank of 5, the company’s dividend yield is near a one-year high and its price-sales ratio is near a three-year low.
Murphy Oil
Van Den Berg invested in 168,550 shares of Murphy Oil for an average price of $27.84 per share. With this transaction, the fund manager increased his portfolio 0.71%.
Murphy Oil, an independent petroleum exploration and production company, reported a net loss of $285 million for the quarter, including a provisional tax expense of $274 million. The company’s profitability ranks a weak 4 out of 10 primarily due to negative net margin and returns on equity.
Verizon
Van Den Berg invested in 87,700 shares of Verizon for an average price of $49.15 per share. With this transaction, the fund manager increased his portfolio 0.63%.
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said the company finished fiscal 2017 with “great momentum, led by some of the best customer growth and loyalty results” the company has delivered in recent years. Despite this, the company’s profitability ranks a modest 5 primarily due to declining revenues. Verizon said in its fourth-quarter earnings release that on a comparable basis, full-year consolidated revenues declined approximately 2% in 2017 compared to 2016.
Disclosure: No positions.
