Francisco Garcia Parames (Trades, Portfolio), chairman and chief investment officer of Cobas Asset Management, disclosed in a regulatory filing that his fund Cobas Seleccion FI’s top four trades during the first quarter included the switch of its International Petroleum Corp. (OSTO:IPCO, Financial)(TSX:IPCO, Financial) position from Swedish shares to Canadian shares, the closure of its position in Dassault Aviation (XPAR:AM, Financial) and reductions to its holdings in Golar LNG Ltd. (GLNG, Financial) and Kosmos Energy Ltd. (KOS, Financial).
The Spain-based guru applies key principles of value investing within the framework of the Austrian business cycle theory. A self-taught follower of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A)(BRK.B) CEO Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)’s investing approach, Parames produced 25 years of returns near the top of rankings among European investors in the “value” category.
Investors should be aware that for Spanish investment firms, the data is sourced from the National Securities Market Commission, the Spanish government agency responsible for the financial regulation of the securities markets in Spain. Like 13F reports, the Spanish portfolio reports only reflect trades and holdings as of the most-recent portfolio filing date, which may or may not be held by the reporting firm today or even when this article was published.
Cobas Seleccion FI invests primarily in international equities with up to 40% exposure in emerging markets. As of March, the fund’s $751 million equity portfolio contains 62 stocks, with four new positions and a turnover ratio of 15%.
The firm's top three sectors in terms of portfolio weight are energy, industrials and consumer cyclical, with weights of 37.70%, 25.87% and 14.83%, respectively.
International Petroleum
Cobas sold all 2,833,745 Swedish shares of International Petroleum (OSTO:IPCO, Financial), trimming 2% of the equity portfolio. With the proceeds of the sale, the fund purchased 7,661,155 Canadian shares of International Petroleum (TSX:IPCO, Financial), giving the position a 1.14% equity portfolio weight.
Swedish shares averaged 68.22 Swedish krona ($6.80) during the first quarter, while Canadian shares averaged 9.28 Canadian dollars ($7.15) during the first quarter. The stock is significantly overvalued based on Wednesday’s price-to-GF-Value ratio of 1.75.
The Vancouver-based energy exploration and production company has a GF Score of 77 out of 100, driven by a rank of 8 out of 10 for profitability and growth despite GF Value ranking just 1 out of 10 and financial strength and momentum ranking 6 out of 10.
Dassault Aviation
The fund sold all 77,653 shares of Dassault Aviation (XPAR:AM, Financial), impacting its equity portfolio by 1.10%.
Shares of Dassault Aviation averaged 117.81 Euros ($124.10) during the first quarter; the stock is significantly overvalued based on Wednesday’s price-to-GF-Value ratio of 1.31.
The French aerospace and defense company has a GF Score of 87 out of 100, driven by a rank of 8 out of 10 for financial strength, profitability and growth despite GF Value and momentum ranking just 5 and 6, respectively.
Other gurus with holdings in Dassault Aviation include Third Avenue Value Fund (Trades, Portfolio) and Azvalor Blue Chips FI (Trades, Portfolio).
Golar LNG
Cobas sold 2,084,920 shares of Golar LNG (GLNG, Financial), slicing 45.6% of the position and 3.40% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of Golar averaged $16.43 during the first quarter; the stock is significantly overvalued based on Wednesday’s price-to-GF-Value ratio of 2.13.
The midstream liquefied natual gas company has a GF Score of 63 out of 100, driven by a rank of 6 out of 10 for profitability and growth despite GF Value ranking just 1 out of 10 and financial strength and momentum ranking 4 and 3, respectively.
Kosmos Energy
Cobas sold 5,320,189 shares of Kosmos Energy (KOS, Financial), chopping 60.28% of the position and 2.75% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of Kosmos averaged $5.08 during the first quarter; the stock is modestly overvalued based on Wednesday’s price-to-GF-Value ratio of 1.29.
The Dallas-based energy exploration and production company has a GF Score of 63 out of 100, driven by a rank of 6 out of 10 for growth and momentum, a profitability rank of 5 out of 10, a financial strength rank of 3 out of 10 and a GF Value rank of 1 out of 10.
