Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), chief investment officer of Fisher Investments, disclosed on Monday that he initiated four new positions in the metals and mining industry: BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP, Financial), BHP Billiton PLC (BBL, Financial), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX, Financial) and Rio Tinto PLC (RIO, Financial).
BHP Billiton
Fisher invested in 5,473,988 shares of BHP for an average price of $48.49 per share and 4,142,899 shares of BBL for an average price of $43.88. The two transactions increased the portfolio 0.6% in the aggregate.
According to its latest annual report, BHP Billiton operates as a dual-listed company structure with headquarters in Australia and the U.K. The company extracts and supplies iron ore, copper, oil, gas and coal to various markets around the world.
GuruFocus ranks BHP Billiton’s profitability 6 out of 10: even though the company’s revenue has declined approximately 3.80% per year over the past three years, BHP Billiton’s operating margins are outperforming over 90% of global competitors.
Freeport-McMoRan
Fisher invested in 14,476,496 shares of Freeport-McMoRan for an average price of $16.96 per share. With this transaction, the manager increased his portfolio 0.33%.
Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan operates large, long-lived geographically diverse assets with reserves of copper, gold and molybdenum. GuruFocus ranks the company’s profitability 6 out of 10: even though the company’s three-year compound annual growth rate of sales underperform 74% of global competitors, its return on equity is near a 10-year high of 39.52% and outperforms 95% of global competitors. Additionally, the company has an excellent Piotroski F-score of 8, driven by higher current ratios, gross margins and asset turnover year over year.
Rio Tinto
Fisher invested in 4,106,200 shares of Rio Tinto for an average price of $55.99 per share. With this transaction, the manager increased his portfolio 0.3%.
Rio Tinto engages in the mining and distribution of various metals, including bauxite, aluminum, copper and gold. GuruFocus ranks the company’s profitability 6 out of 10 and lists three positive investing signs: expanding operating margins, a dividend yield near a 52-week high and an excellent Piotroski F-score of 8. Several factors contributing to the strong Piotroski score include higher current ratios, lower leverage and lower shares outstanding year over year.
Ken Heebner (Trades, Portfolio) and Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) also invested in Rio Tinto over the past six months as the company offers good growth potential.
See also
According to GuruFocus’ industry overview pages, top metals and mining companies include Southern Copper Co. (SCCO, Financial), Freeport-McMoRan, Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM, Financial) and Alcoa Corp. (AA, Financial). Fischer devoted just 2.5% of his portfolio to the basic materials sector.
Disclosure: No positions.
