Third Avenue Value Fund (Trades, Portfolio), the fund founded by the late Marty Whitman, recently disclosed its fiscal third quarter portfolio, which revealed that its top five trades for the quarter included new holdings in S4 Capital PLC (LSE:SFOR, Financial), Ashmore Group PLC (LSE:ASHM, Financial) and easyJet PLC (LSE:EZJ, Financial) as well as the closure of its positions in Royal Boskalis Westminster (XAMS:BOKA, Financial) and CK Asset Holdings Ltd. (HKSE:01113, Financial).
Managed by Matthew Fine, the New York-based fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in companies that have strong balance sheets and valuations that are supported by tangible assets and market prices below the fund’s estimate of intrinsic business value. Third Avenue focuses on global markets and all market cap categories.
As of July, the fund’s $570-million equity portfolio contains 32 stocks with a quarterly turnover ratio of 13%. The top three sectors in terms of weight are financial services, basic materials and industrials, with weights of 22.39%, 22.21% and 18.87%.
Investors should be aware that portfolio updates for mutual funds do not necessarily provide a complete picture of a guru’s holdings. The data is sourced from the quarterly updates on the website of the fund(s) in question. This usually consists of long equity positions in U.S. and foreign stocks. All numbers are as of the quarter’s end only; it is possible the guru may have already made changes to the positions after the quarter ended. However, even this limited data can provide valuable information.
S4 Capital
The fund purchased 9,640,945 shares of S4 Capital (LSE:SFOR, Financial), giving the position 2.62% equity portfolio weight. Shares averaged 2.45 British pounds ($2.61) during the third quarter.
The U.K.-based digital advertising company has a GF Score of 30 out of 100 based on a profitability rank of 2 out of 10, a financial strength rank of 5 out of 10 and a momentum rank of 1 out of 10. Despite this, the stock does not have enough data to compute a growth rank or GF Value rank and thus, the GF Score may give an incomplete picture of the stock’s potential.
Ashmore Group
The fund invested in 5,308,877 shares of Ashmore Group (LSE:ASHM, Financial), allocating 2.46% of its equity portfolio to the position. Shares averaged £2.18 during the third quarter; the stock is modestly undervalued based on Monday’s price-to-GF-Value ratio of 0.72.
The U.K.-based asset management company has a GF Score of 80 out of 100 based on a financial strength rank of 10 out of 10, a GF Value rank of 9 out of 10, a profitability rank of 8 out of 10 and a rank of 4 out of 10 for momentum and growth.
The Royce International Premier Fund (Trades, Portfolio) also has a holding in Ashmore Group.
EasyJet
The fund purchased 2,446,430 shares of easyJet (LSE:EZJ, Financial), giving the position 2.10% equity portfolio weight. Shares averaged ÂŁ4.40 during the third quarter.
GuruFocus’ GF Value Line labeled the low-cost U.K. carrier a possible value trap due to a low price-to-GF-Value ratio of 0.53 as of Monday, a low financial strength rank of 4 out of 10 and a low growth rank of 1 out of 10.
EasyJet has a GF Score of 65 out of 100. Although the stock’s GF Value ranks 8 out of 10, easyJet’s profitability and momentum rank just 5 out of 10.
Royal Boskalis Westminster
The fund sold all 648,285 shares of its Royal Boskalis Westminster (XAMS:BOKA, Financial) holding, trimming 3.71% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of Royal Boskalis Westminster averaged 32.32 euros ($31.05) during the third quarter; the stock is modestly overvalued based on Monday’s price-to-GF-Value ratio of 1.23.
The Dutch marine dredging company has a GF Score of 76 out of 100 based on a rank of 7 out of 10 for financial strength and profitability, a momentum rank of 6 out of 10, a growth rank of 5 out of 10 and a GF Value rank of 3 out of 10.
CK Asset Holdings
The fund sold all 1,197,192 of its shares of CK Asset Holdings (HKSE:01113, Financial), trimming 1.34% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of CK Asset Holdings averaged 53.97 Hong Kong dollars ($6.88) during the third quarter; the stock is fairly valued based on Monday’s price-to-GF-Value ratio of 0.95.
The Hong Kong-based real estate company has a GF Score of 79 out of 100 based on a momentum rank of 9 out of 10, a profitability rank of 8 out of 10, a financial strength rank of 7 out of 10, a growth rank of 5 out of 10 and a GF Value rank of 3 out of 10.
