Nelson Peltz (Trades, Portfolio), a founding partner and CEO of Trian Fund Management, disclosed in regulatory filings that his firm axed a major chunk of its holding in Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ, Financial) and added to its stake in Janus Henderson Group PLC (JHG, Financial)(JUHDY, Financial) according to GuruFocus Real-Time Picks, a Premium feature. During the third quarter, the firm also pared its holdings in Sysco Corp. (SYY, Financial) and Proctor & Gamble Co. (PG, Financial).
Trian invests in a concentrated portfolio of undervalued and underperforming companies and seeks operational and strategic initiatives to enhance long-term shareholder value. The firm focuses on companies that offer a favorable risk-reward dynamic and have less competition among peers given barriers to entry.
As of Sept. 30, the firm’s $8.04 billion equity portfolio contains nine stocks with a turnover ratio of 1%. The top three sectors in terms of weight are consumer defensive, industrials and financial services, representing 28%, 27.21% and 24.06% of the equity portfolio.
Mondelez
Trian sold 5,468,968 shares of Mondelez (MDLZ, Financial), chopping 68.38% of the holding and 4.24% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of Mondelez averaged $62.31 on the Nov. 18 transaction date; the stock is fairly valued based on Friday’s price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.97.
GuruFocus ranks the Chicago-based confectioner company’s profitability 7 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a high Piotroski F-score of 7 and an operating margin that has increased approximately 4.40% per year on average over the past five years and outperforms more than 87% of global competitors.
Gurus with holdings in Mondelez include Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio) and Pioneer Investments.
Janus Henderson Group
The firm added 1,714,291 shares of Janus Henderson Group (JUHDY, Financial), increasing the position by 6.97% and its equity portfolio by 0.52%.
Shares of Janus Henderson averaged $41.55 during the third quarter; the stock is significantly overvalued based on Friday’s price-to-GF Value ratio of 1.40.
GuruFocus ranks the U.K.-based asset management company’s financial strength 7 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a high Piotroski F-score of 8, a strong Altman Z-score of 3.68 and debt ratios that are outperforming more than 71% of global competitors.
Sysco
Trian sold 4,493,098 shares of Sysco (SYY, Financial), slicing 25.14% of the position and 4.08% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of Sysco averaged $76.29 during the third quarter; the stock is fairly valued based on Friday’s price-to-GF Value ratio of 1.01.
GuruFocus ranks the Houston-based food service distribution company’s financial strength 5 out of 10 on the back of interest coverage and debt ratios underperforming more than 70% of global competitors despite having a strong Altman Z-score of 4.73.
Proctor & Gamble
Trian sold 522,262 shares of Proctor & Gamble (PG, Financial), trimming 9.02% of the position and 0.82% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of P&G averaged $141.69 during the third quarter; the stock is fairly valued based on Friday’s price-to-GF Value ratio of 1.05.
GuruFocus ranks the Cincinnati-based consumer products company’s profitability 7 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include profit margins and returns outperforming more than 90% of global competitors despite three-year revenue growth rates outperforming just over 62% of global consumer products companies.
