David Abrams (Trades, Portfolio), founder of Abrams Capital Management, made two new buys in the fourth quarter. The largest was in his preferred sector, Financial Services.
Abrams’ most noteworthy fourth-quarter transaction was the purchase of a 5,275,662-share stake in Franklin Resources Inc. (BEN, Financial), a financial services company based in San Mateo, California. Abrams paid an average price of $39.15 per share in a deal that had a 10.62% impact on his portfolio.
The stake is 0.89% of Franklin Resources’ outstanding shares and 10.62% of Abrams’ total assets. Franklin Resources’ leading shareholder among the gurus is Richard Pzena (Trades, Portfolio) with a stake of 9,462,920 shares. The stake is 1.6% of Franklin Resources’ outstanding shares and 2.15% of Pzena’s total assets.
Franklin Resources has a P/E of 12.2, a forward P/E of 12.4, a P/B of 1.9 and a P/S of 2.9. GuruFocus gives Franklin Resources a Financial Strength rating of 8/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10.
Franklin Resources sold for $38.41 per share Friday.
Abrams also acquired a 661,000-share stake in Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC, Financial), a New York-based telecommunications and mass media company, for an average price of $185.51 per share. The transaction had a 6.71% impact on Abrams’ portfolio.
The stake is 0.23% of Time Warner Cable’s outstanding shares and 6.71% of Abrams’ total assets. Dodge & Cox is Time Warner Cable’s leading shareholder among the gurus with a stake of 19,420,146 shares. The stake is 6.86% of Time Warner Cable’s outstanding shares and 3.54% of Dodge & Cox’s total assets.
Time Warner Cable has a P/E of 30.3, a forward P/E of 24, a P/B of 6.2 and a P/S of 2.4. GuruFocus gives Time Warner Cable a Financial Strength rating of 6/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10.
Time Warner Cable sold for $195.78 per share Friday.
Abrams increased his stake in Cleco Corp. (CNL, Financial), a Pineville, Louisiana-based energy services company, by nearly 97% with the purchase of 1,162,366 shares. Abrams paid an average price of $51.93 per share in a deal that had a 3.32% impact on Abrams’ portfolio.
The stake, now 2,362,366 shares, is 3.9% of Cleco’s outstanding shares and 6.74% of Abrams’ total assets. Abrams is Cleco’s leading shareholder among the gurus.
Cleco has a P/E of 21.2, a forward P/E of 10.8, a P/B of 1.7 and a P/S of 2.3. GuruFocus gives Cleco a Financial Strength rating of 5/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 7/10.
Cleco sold for $46.71 per share Friday.
Abrams raised his stake in Manitowoc Co. Inc. (MTW, Financial), a Manitowoc, Wisconsin-based manufacturer of products for the food service and construction industries, by more than 44%. Abrams purchased 2,214,901 shares for an average price of $3.31 per share. The transaction had a 1.86% impact on Abrams’ portfolio.
The 7,225,600-share stake is 5.28% of Manitowoc’s outstanding shares and 6.06% of Abrams’ total assets. Manitowoc’s leading shareholder among the gurus is Carl Icahn (Trades, Portfolio) with a stake of 10,582,660 shares. The stake is 7.73% of Manitowoc’s outstanding shares and 0.55% of Icahn’s total assets.
Manitowoc has a P/E of 9.1, a forward P/E of 3.6, a P/B of 0.7 and a P/S of 0.2. GuruFocus gives Manitowoc a Financial Strength rating of 6/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 6/10.
Manitowoc sold for $4.21 per share Friday.
Abrams boosted his stake in VimpelCom Ltd. (VIP, Financial), a telecommunications company based in Amsterdam, by more than 78%. Abrams acquired 8 million shares for an average price of $3.61 per share. The deal had a 1.43% impact on Abrams’ portfolio.
The stake of 18.2 million shares is 1.04% of VimpelCom’s outstanding shares and 3.26% of Abrams’ total assets. Abrams is VimpelCom’s leading shareholder among the gurus.
VimpelCom has a forward P/E of 19.7, a P/B of 1.9 and a P/S of 0.4. GuruFocus gives VimpelCom a Financial Strength rating of 8/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 7/10.
VimpelCom sold for $3.96 per share Friday.
Abrams hiked his stake in Barnes & Noble Education Inc. (BNED, Financial), the New Jersey-based provider of educational materials to college students and faculty, by more than 15%. Abrams bought 1,075,489 shares for an average price of $12.56 per share. The transaction had a 0.58% impact on Abrams’ portfolio.
The stake, now 8,220,792 shares, is 17.34% of the company’s outstanding shares and 4.47% of Abrams’ total assets. Abrams is Barnes & Noble Education’s leading shareholder among the gurus.
Barnes & Noble Education has a P/E of 36.5, a P/B of 0.7 and a P/S of 0.3%. GuruFocus gives Barnes & Noble Education a Financial Strength rating of 7/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 3/10.
Barnes & Noble Education sold for $9.85 per share Friday.
Abrams increased his stake in Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS, Financial), a New York-based retail bookseller, by more than 7%. Abrams acquired 500,000 shares for an average price of $11.74 per share. The transaction had a 0.24% impact on Abrams’ portfolio.
The stake of 7,418,774 shares is 9.93% of Barnes & Noble’s outstanding shares and 3.53% of Abrams’ total assets. Abrams is Barnes & Noble’s leading shareholder among the gurus.
Barnes & Noble has a forward P/E of 303, a P/B of 1.4 and a P/S of 0.1. GuruFocus gives Barnes & Noble a Financial Strength rating of 8/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 4/10.
Barnes & Noble sold for $12.46 per share Friday.
Abrams raised his stake in Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (KERX, Financial), a Boston-based biopharmaceutical company, by 10%. Abrams bought 500,000 shares for an average price of $4.8 per share. The deal had a 0.14% impact on Abrams’ portfolio.
The 5.5 million-share stake is 5.19% of Keryx’s outstanding shares and 1.52% of Abrams’ total assets. Abrams is Keryx’s leading shareholder among the gurus.
Keryx has a forward P/E of 4.1, a P/B of 5.8 and a P/S of 36.2. GuruFocus gives Keryx a Financial Strength rating of 5/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 2/10.
Keryx sold for $4.79 per share Friday.
Abrams trimmed his stake in Opus Bank (OPB, Financial), an Irvine, California-based financial services company, by more than 22%. Abrams sold 455,685 shares for an average price of $37.64 per share. The transaction had a -1.25% impact on Abrams’ portfolio.
The stake, now 1,596,395 shares, is 5.68% of Opus Bank’s outstanding shares and 3.23% of Abrams’ total assets. Paul Singer (Trades, Portfolio) is Opus Bank’s leading shareholder among the gurus with a stake of 5,051,279 shares. The stake is 17.98% of Opus Bank’s outstanding shares and 2.28% of Singer’s total assets.
Opus Bank has a P/E of 7 and a P/S of 6.6.
Opus Bank sold for $34.94 per share Friday.
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