NWQ Managers Buys Stakes in NetApp, Walmart in Second Quarter

Money management firm acquires holdings in eight other companies

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Sep 04, 2015
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With an average of more than 22 years of experience under their belts, the professionals at NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio), a value-oriented money management firm, can be said to know what they’re doing, and the numbers support that. In the last three years, NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio) has posted returns of 13.71% (2014), 35.8% (2013) and 14.92% (2012).

NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio) invested in 10 new stakes in the second quarter, which is fewer than the firm normally buys in a quarter. Its largest buy was a 2,370,864-share stake in NetApp Inc. (NTAP, Financial), a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based computer storage and data management company, for an average price of $34.7 per share. The purchase had a 1.01% impact on NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio)’ portfolio.

NetApp has a market cap of $9.35 billion and an enterprise value of $5.51 billion. It has a P/E of 17.6, a Price/Book of 2.8 and a Price/Sales of 1.6. PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio), Dodge & Cox, Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Richard Snow (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), John Hussman (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) and David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of NetApp in their portfolios.

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NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio) bought a 911,502-share stake in Walmart Stores Inc. (WMT, Financial), the Bentonville, Ark.-based discount retailer, for an average price of $76.58 per share. The transaction had a 0.89% impact on NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio)’ portfolio.

Walmart has a market cap of $205.89 billion and an enterprise value of $251.35 billion. It has a P/E of 12.8, a Price/Book of 2.7 and a Price/Sales of 0.4. Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio), Dodge & Cox, James Barrow (Trades, Portfolio), Bill Gates (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Richard Pzena (Trades, Portfolio), HOTCHKIS & WILEY, Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio), Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio), Donald Yacktman (Trades, Portfolio), Yacktman Fund (Trades, Portfolio), Tom Gayner (Trades, Portfolio), Manning & Napier Advisors, Inc., Tweedy Browne (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), John Rogers (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), Charles Brandes (Trades, Portfolio), Jeff Auxier (Trades, Portfolio), John Buckingham (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), John Hussman (Trades, Portfolio), Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Richard Snow (Trades, Portfolio), Tom Russo (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), Bill Frels (Trades, Portfolio), David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio), Mark Hillman (Trades, Portfolio) and Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Walmart in their portfolios.

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NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio) acquired a 789,830-share stake in Hess Corp. (HES, Financial), a New York-based oil and gas company, for an average price of $70.9 per share. The deal had a 0.71% impact on NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio)’ portfolio.

Hess has a market cap of $16.25 billion and an enterprise value of $21.28 billion. It has a Price/Book of 0.8 and a Price/Sales of 1.9. Paul Singer (Trades, Portfolio), Brian Rogers (Trades, Portfolio), Manning & Napier Advisors, Inc., Michael Price (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio), RS Investment Management (Trades, Portfolio) and Dodge & Cox have shares of Hess in their portfolios.

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NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio) bought a 522,193-share stake in John B. Sanfilippo & Son Inc. (JBSS, Financial), the Elgin, Ill.-based parent company of Fisher nuts, for an average price of $49.96 per share. The transaction had a 0.37% impact on NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio)’ portfolio.

John B. Sanfilippo & Son has a market cap of $566.95 million and an enterprise value of $662.87 million. It has a P/E of 19.6, a Price/Book of 2.4 and a Price/Sales of 0.7. NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio) is John B. Sanfilippo & Son’s leading shareholder among the gurus; Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio), Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) and Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of John B. Sanfilippo & Son in their portfolios as well.

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NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio) invested in a 180,500-share stake in Frontier Communications Corp. (FTRPR, Financial), a Stamford, Conn.-based telecommunications company, for an average price of $100.3 per share. The acquisition had a 0.25% impact on NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio)’ portfolio.

Frontier Communications has a Price/Book of 1.0 and a Price/Sales of 1.0. Seth Klarman (Trades, Portfolio) and Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Frontier Communications in their portfolios.

On Sept. 4, Frontier’s bid to acquire Verizon’s (VZ, Financial) wireline, broadband and video operations in California, Texas and Florida got the green light from the Federal Communications Commission.

NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio) purchased 727,509 shares of Fred's Inc. (FRED, Financial), a Memphis-based regional chain of discount retail stores, for an average price of $17.79 per share. The deal had a 0.19% impact on NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio)’ portfolio.

Fred’s has a market cap of $471.94 million and an enterprise value of $533.67 million. It has a Price/Book of 1.1 and a Price/Sales of 0.2.

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In August, Fred’s disclosed that its computer system had been hacked by someone looking for credit card information on shoppers who made purchases at hundreds of stores in March and April.

NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio) also added a 730,045-share stake in National Storage Affiliates Trust (NSA, Financial), a Greenwood Village, Colo.-based self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, for an average price of $13.09 per share. The purchase had a 0.13% impact on NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio)’ portfolio.

National Storage Affiliates Trust has a market cap of $294.62 million and an enterprise value of $1.1 billion. It has a P/E of 256 and a Price/Sales of 6.9. John Keeley (Trades, Portfolio) has shares of National Storage Affiliates Trust in his portfolio.

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NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio) also bought stakes in Vector Group Ltd. (VGR, Financial), Apartment Investment & Management Co. (AIVPRA, Financial) and Chevron Corp. (CVX, Financial) in the second quarter.

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