James Barrow (Trades, Portfolio) is the executive director of Dallas-based investment firm Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss. It’s been quite hot in Dallas lately but not as hot as Barrow. His firm is the lead portfolio manager for Vanguard Selected Value Fund, which had a return of 6.36% last year when many others were struggling to avoid negative territory. Vanguard Select Value Fund enjoyed returns of 42.04% in 2013 and 15.25% in 2012.
Barrow made 18 new buys in the second quarter, the most significant being his purchase of 868,110 shares of Encore Wire Corp (WIRE, Financial), a Texas-based residential and commercial wire provider, for an average price of $43.35 per share. The purchase had a 0.05% impact on his portfolio.
Encore Wire has a market cap of $684.69 million and an enterprise value of $638.82 million. It has a P/E of 18.0, a Price/Book of 1.3 and a Price/Sales of 0.6. Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio), Third Avenue Management (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) and Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Encore Wire in their portfolios.
Barrow also acquired a 122,887-share stake in Essendant Inc (ESND, Financial), a Chicago-based provider of workplace solutions, for an average price of $40.43 per share. The transaction had a 0.01% impact on Barrow’s portfolio.
Essendant has a market cap of $1.36 billion and an enterprise value of $1.99 billion. It has a P/E of 23.1, a Price/Book of 1.6 and a Price/Sales of 0.3.
Last month, Essendant announced the purchase of Nestor Sales LLC, a wholesaler and distributor of tools, equipment and supplies to the transportation industry.
Barrow bought 299,703 shares of Primoris Services Corp (PRIM, Financial), a Dallas-based construction and infrastructure company, for an average price of $19.07 per share. The acquisition had a 0.01% impact on his portfolio.
Primoris has a market cap of $937.74 million and an enterprise value of $1.09 billion. It has a P/E of 22.4, a Price/Book of 2.0 and a Price/Sales of 0.5. Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), John Keeley (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio) and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Primoris in their portfolios.
Barrow purchased 156,474 shares of Rexnord Corp (RXN, Financial), a Milwaukee-based automotive/aerospace supply provider with subsidiaries in water management, for an average price of $26.09 per share. The transaction had a 0.01% impact on Barrow’s portfolio.
Rexnord has a market cap of $2.16 billion and an enterprise value of $3.76 billion. It has a P/E of 23.6, a Price/Book of 3.9 and a Price/Sales of 1.1. John Keeley (Trades, Portfolio), Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Rexnord in their portfolios.
Barrow also bought a 93,858-share stake in Hibbett Sports Inc (HIBB, Financial), a Birmingham, Alabama-based sporting goods retailer, for an average price of $47.77 per share. The purchase had a 0.01% impact on Barrow’s portfolio.
Hibbett Sports has a market cap of $1.12 billion and an enterprise value of $1 billion. It has a P/E of 15.6, a Price/Book of 3.2 and a Price/Sales of 1.2. Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) and Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Hibbett Sports in their portfolios.
Barrow purchased 104,233 shares of Sothebys (BID, Financial), a New York-based auction house and specialty retailer, for an average price of $44.24 per share. The acquisition had a 0.01% impact on Barrow’s portfolio.
Sothebys has a market cap of $2.91 billion and an enterprise value of $3.55 billion. It has a P/E of 20.4, a Price/Book of 3.0 and a Price/Sales of 2.8. Daniel Loeb (Trades, Portfolio), Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio), John Rogers (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), John Keeley (Trades, Portfolio), Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio) and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Sothebys in their portfolios.
Barrow also acquired 180,987 shares of Werner Enterprises Inc (WERN, Financial), an Omaha, Nebraska-based freight carrier and transportation and logistics company, for an average price of $28.47 per share. The transaction had a 0.01% impact on Barrow’s portfolio.
Werner Enterprises has a market cap of $2.03 billion and an enterprise value of $2.06 billion. It has a P/E of 17.7, a Price/Book of 2.3 and a Price/Sales of 0.9. Barrow is Werner’s top shareholder among the gurus, but Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) and Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio) also have shares of Werner in their portfolios.
The other new stakes in Barrow’s portfolio are Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc (ARCO, Financial), Air Products & Chemicals Inc (APD, Financial), Caleres Inc (CAL, Financial), Kaman Corp (KAMN, Financial), Kronos Worldwide Inc (KRO), Meritor Inc (MTOR), Sanderson Farms Inc (SAFM), Shoe Carnival Inc (SCVL), Tumi Holdings Inc (TUMI), Virtus Investment Partners Inc (VRTS) and Adtran Inc (ADTN).
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