This is the last chance to purchase next year’s value conference tickets at the deep discount price of $675. The price will increase to $775 on Nov. 1.
Key speakers at the 2019 value conference include GAMCO Investors Inc. (GBL, Financial) CEO Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) and “Spain's Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)” Francisco Garcàa Paramés (Trades, Portfolio). Gabelli's top three holdings are Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. (RHP, Financial), The Madison Square Garden Co. (MSG, Financial) and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK, Financial). Likewise, Paramés' top three holdings are Aryzta AG (XSWX:ARYN, Financial), Teekay Corp. (TK, Financial) and International Seaways Inc. (INSW, Financial).
The conference presentations will take place on Friday, May 3, 2019, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Omaha Downtown. The day of our presentations is also the day before Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, Financial)(BRK.B, Financial) co-managers Buffett and Charlie Munger (Trades, Portfolio) host their annual meeting.
Mario Gabelli: Profile and top holding highlight
Gabelli graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University’s College of Business Administration in 1965. Morningstar Inc.'s (MORN, Financial) 1997 Portfolio Manager of the Year also holds an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business and honorary doctorates from Fordham University and Roger Williams University.
The GAMCO Investors CEO has not released his third-quarter portfolio as the deadline in 45 days after quarter-end. As of the second quarter, Gabelli’s largest holding is Ryman Hospitality Properties, a Nashville, Tennessee-based REIT specializing in group-oriented, destination hotel assets in urban and resort markets. The investor dedicated 1.79% of his portfolio to the position.
Ryman Hospitality Properties operates in Tennessee, Texas, Florida and Washington D.C. through two business segments: hospitality, which includes hotel property and operations, and entertainment, which includes Grand Ole Opry assets, WSM-AM and Nashville attractions. GuruFocus ranks the company’s profitability 7 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a strong Piotroski F-score of 7 and a return on equity that outperforms 99% of global competitors. Despite this, the REIT’s financial strength ranks a poor 4 out of 10 on two red flags: a week Altman Z-score of 1.52 and increasing long-term debt over the past three years.
Francisco Garcàa Paramés: Profile and top holding highlight
Paramés, a self-taught follower of Buffett’s investing approach, joined Bestinver in 1989 following the completion of his MBA at the IESE business school. During his 25 years running Bestinfond (Trades, Portfolio), Paramés achieved a track record that places him among the top value investors in Europe.
Paramés is the author of “Invirtiendo a largo plazo,” Spanish for “investing for the long term.”
The investor’s largest holding as of the second quarter is Aryzta, a Swiss consumer packaged goods company that produces artisan breads, sweet baked goods and morning specialties. Paramés dedicated 7.5% of his portfolio to the position.
Paramés detailed in his second-quarter commentary that the “good performance of most of the companies in the funds’ portfolio” was not reflected in the portfolio returns primarily due to “the poor stock performance” of Aryzta. Excluding the performance of this stock, the portfolio would have been on par with the benchmark indexes. The investor mentioned a quote from Buffett that “we would all be champions if we dropped all the bad shots from a round of golf.”
In Aryzta, Paramés said the fund has a company with an “elevated” debt level of 1.8 billion euros and EBITDA that has shrunk to 50% of its previous value of 600 euros. The stock has fallen 84% from the maximum of 90 Swiss francs ($89.87) per share in 2014 to bottom out at 15 francs ($14.98) per share. Despite this, the investor took advantage of the steep downturn and bought more shares “with a view to increasing the potential upside of the position.”
Price for value conference tickets will increase on Nov. 1
There are only two days left to register for our conference at the “early bird” price of $675, saving you $300 from the regular price. The price for value conference tickets will increase on Nov. 1.
Disclosure: No positions.
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