Mason Hawkins (Trades, Portfolio) has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Southeastern Asset Management since 1975, and he and his partners manage the Longleaf Partners Funds. Mr. Hawkins attended the University of Florida where he earned a B.A. in Finance, and the University of Georgia where he earned an M.B.A. in Finance.
Web Page:Â http://www.longleafpartners.com/
His portfolio is composed of 28 stocks and has a total value of $17,384 Mil. In 2014, the fund returned 4.92% with a negative excess gain of 8.8%, compared to the performance of the S&P 500 during the same year.
During the first three months of 2015, he increased his stakes of Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc. (DWA) and Murphy Oil Corp (MUR).
He increased his position to 14,165,846 shares (Impact of 0.51% on his portfolio) of Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc. with a double buy, the first at the price of $19.81 and the second at a price of $20.03.
He started to buy DWA on 2014Q3 and now he holds it at an average price of $22.6 per share with a current gain of 15%.
Over the last 12 months, the price had an easy correction by 5% and is currently trading at a forward P/E ratio of 29.59, ranked higher than 71% of other companies in the Global Media – Diversified industry.
The company has a financial strength of 7/10 with a cash to debt of 0.07. Profitability and growth is rated 4 out of 10 with negative returns such as a ROA of -13.91%, a ROE of -23.18% and ROC of -28.04%.
The Peter Lynch earnings line says DWA is heavily Overpriced by 400% and this evaluation doesn’t help to open new long term positions. This is even confirmed by the negative growth rates of the last 12 months (EBITDA -23%, EPS -358%, Book Value -18%).
With this buy, Mason Hawkins became the main investor holding DWA (he holds 16.53% of Outstanding Shares), followed by PRIMECAP Management (13.53%) and Murray Stahl (12.71%).
He increased his position to 19,517,670 shares (Impact of 0.81% on his portfolio) of Murphy Oil Corp buying it at an average price of $49.88.
He is increasing his stake of MUR since 2011Q3 and now he holds it at an average price of $52.2 per share with a current loss of 4%.
Over the last 12 months, the price dropped by 22% and is currently trading at a P/B ratio of 1.00. The P/E (ttm) is 10.10 and is ranked higher than 88% of other companies in the Global Oil & Gas E&P industry.
The company has a financial strength of 7/10 with a cash to debt of 0.55. Profitability and growth is rated 5 out of 10 with easy but positive returns (ROA of 5.17%, ROE of 10.71% and ROC of 10.46%).
Similar to DWA, even MUR looks Overpriced based on the Peter Lynch earnings line (by 160%) but here growth rates are steady during the last 12 months (revenue +6.70%, EBITDA +11%, EPS +8.60%, book value +3.10%).
MUR has a dividend yield of 2.69% with a 10 year growth rate of 12.90%.
According to Mason Hawkins Comments on Murphy Oil, he said:
Murphy (MUR) was down 20% in the year after an 11% decline in the fourth quarter. CEO Roger Jenkins took actions to recognize value including selling a 30% stake in Malaysian assets at a price above our appraisal. Murphy also bought back shares in 2014 and has authorization for more. The sharp decline in oil prices most heavily affected Murphy’s ownership in Syncrude’s Canadian oil sands, which represented less than 15% of our appraisal before oil’s drop and less today.
Even here, Mason Hawkins is the main Guru holding MUR (11% of shares outstanding), followed by Hotchkis & Wiley (5.38%) and Richard Pzena (2.7%).
