Mathematical Investor Jim Simons' 5 Biggest New Buys

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Aug 13, 2013
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Jim Simons is a quantitative investor whose investing ways are not likely to titillate the value investor. At his Renaissance Technologies, employees or even computers make purchasing decisions based on mathematical and statistical methods. It currently has over $15 billion in assets under management.

"The advantage scientists bring into the game is less their mathematical or computational skills than their ability to think scientifically. They are less likely to accept an apparent winning strategy that might be a mere statistical fluke,” Simons has said.

His strategies have returned more than 35% annualized at his best-performing fund, the Medallion fund, over its 20-year existence, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

Of his 391 new stocks purchased in the second quarter, the largest positions are: Apple (AAPL, Financial), Citigroup Inc. (C, Financial), ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG, Financial), ConocoPhillips (COP, Financial) and Comcast Corp. (CMCSA, Financial).

Apple (AAPL)

Simons purchased 714,487 shares of Apple Inc. in the second quarter, when the price was $431 on average. The position has a 0.74% portfolio weight and shares have gained 13% since.

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Apple Inc. is a California corporation founded in 1977. Apple Inc. has a market cap of $444.9 billion; its shares were traded at around $489.71 with a P/E ratio of 12.10 and P/S ratio of 2.70. The dividend yield of Apple Inc. stocks is 2.40%. Apple Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 82.7% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Apple Inc. the business predictability rank of 4.5-star.

Apple’s revenue and earnings history:

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The Peter Lynch chart suggests it is undervalued:

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Citigroup (C)

Simons purchased 3,696,420 shares of Citigroup in the second quarter when the price was $48 on average. The position has a 0.46% portfolio weight, and the share price has increased 8% since.

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Citigroup Inc. was incorporated in 1988 under the laws of the State of Delaware. Citigroup Inc. has a market cap of $157.43 billion; its shares were traded at around $51.77 with a P/E ratio of 16.00 and P/S ratio of 2.10. The dividend yield of Citigroup Inc. stocks is 0.10%.

Citigroup earnings and revenue history:

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ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG)

Simons purchased 2,893,100 shares of ConAgra Foods Inc. in the second quarter when the price was $35 on average. The position has a 0.26% portfolio weight, and the share price has increased 5% since.

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ConAgra Foods Inc. was initially incorporated as a Nebraska corporation in 1919 and was reincorporated as a Delaware corporation in December 1975. ConAgra Foods Inc. has a market cap of $15.35 billion; its shares were traded at around $36.60 with a P/E ratio of 19.70 and P/S ratio of 1.00. The dividend yield of ConAgra Foods Inc. stocks is 2.70%. ConAgra Foods Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 2.7% over the past 10 years.

ConAgra’s earnings and revenue history:

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ConocoPhillips (COP)

Simons purchased 1,393,713 shares of ConocoPhillips in the second quarter when the price was $61 on average. It is a 0.22% portfolio weight, and shares have since gained 10%.

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ConocoPhillips was incorporated in the state of Delaware on Nov. 16, 2001, in connection with, and in anticipation of, the merger between Conoco Inc. ConocoPhillips has a market cap of $81.82 billion; its shares were traded at around $66.90 with a P/E ratio of 10.80 and P/S ratio of 1.40. The dividend yield of ConocoPhillips stocks is 4.00%. ConocoPhillips had an annual average earnings growth of 40.5% over the past five years.

Conoco’s earnings and revenue history:

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Visit Jim Simons’ portfolio here. Also check out the Undervalued Stocks, Top Growth Companies and High Yield stocks of Jim Simons.

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