Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Gabelli Asset Management Company Investors (GAMCO Investors) a $30 billion dollar global investment firm headquartered in Rye, New York.
The investor reported increasing his stake in Superior Industries International (SUP, Financial) on March 11, according to GuruFocus Real Time Picks. With the transaction, Gabelli’s position increased by 1.06% to 2,132,001 shares. The fund initiated a position more than five years ago, and during 2014 Gabelli added and reduced the stake to reach 2.1 million shares at the end of the fourth quarter of 2014, worth $41.98 million.
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Superior Industries International’s shares lost 4.1% during the past year and closed 2014 at a price of $19.79 each. Today the stock price trades at a lower level.
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The company designs, manufactures, and sells aluminum road wheels to the original equipment manufacturers in North America. It also has a $541.41 million market cap.
For the fourth quarter, revenues decreased by 3.04% but earnings per share decreased in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago ($0.05vs $0.23). During the past fiscal year, the firm reported lower earnings of $0.32 versus $0.83 in the previous year. This year, Wall Street expects an improvement in earnings ($0.87 versus $0.32). The net income decreased by almost 79% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, to $1.36 million from $6.40 million.
In terms of valuation, the stock sells at a trailing P/E of 58.8x, trading at a premium compared to an average of 18.6x for the industry. To use another metric, its price-to-book ratio of 1.14x indicates a discount versus the industry average of 1.72x while the price-to-sales ratio of 0.68x is below the industry average of 0.75x.
Hedge fund guru John Rogers (Trades, Portfolio) upped the stake by 9% to 128,375 shares in the fourth quarter of 2014, while John Keeley (Trades, Portfolio) sold out the stock.
Disclosure: Omar Venerio holds no position in any stocks mentioned
