Mario Gabelli's Top 5 Positions as of 3rd Quarter

Top holding is Sony, 'Morningstar Portfolio Manager' of 1997 will speak at next year's conference

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Dec 13, 2018
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According to GuruFocus top 10 holding data, Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio)’s top five holdings as of the third quarter are Sony Corp. (SNE, Financial), Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. (RHP, Financial), The Madison Square Garden Co. (MSG, Financial), Crane Co. (CR, Financial) and Honeywell International Inc. (HON, Financial).

Gabelli, chairman and CEO of GAMCO Investors Inc. (GBL, Financial), graduated summa cum laude in 1965 from Fordham University’s College of Business Administration. He also holds an MBA from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business and honorary degrees from Roger Williams University. In 1997, Morningstar Inc. (MORN, Financial) named Gabelli “Portfolio Manager of the Year.” Gabelli, along with Francisco Garcà­a Paramés (Trades, Portfolio) and Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio), will speak at our value conference next year.

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The GAMCO CEO said in his shareholder letters the Gabelli Asset Fund returned 5.11% for the quarter while the Gabelli Value 25 Fund returned 5.34%, both slightly underperforming the Standard & Poor’s 500 index's return of 7.71%. Despite this, the Asset Fund returned 11.90% since its March 3, 1986 inception, outperforming the S&P 500 by approximately 1.26% and the Dow Jones industrial average by approximately 0.27%. Likewise, the Value 25 Fund returned 10.23% since its Sept. 29, 1989 inception, outperforming the S&P 500 by approximately 0.32%. The fund’s top three sectors in terms of portfolio weight are industrials, consumer cyclical and financial services.

Sony

Sony, a Japanese consumer electronics company, represents 1.75% of the equity portfolio.

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Sony develops and manufactures consumer electronic products with well-known brand names, which include Xperia, Cybershot and PlayStation. Gabelli said in his letter that Sony contributed a 2% increase in the Asset Fund’s net assets primarily due to the company’s strong top-line and bottom-line results for the quarter. The guru “expects growth opportunities” across Sony’s key business segments to drive EBITDA growth throughout the year.

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GuruFocus ranks Sony’s profitability 5 out of 10: even though revenues have declined 3.6% per year over the past three years, a rate that underperforms 70% of global competitors, Sony has a strong Piotroski F-score of 7 and profit margins that are outperforming 71% of global competitors. Additionally, the company’s three-year EBITDA growth rate of 30.40% ranks higher than 83% of global consumer electronics companies.

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Gabelli’s fund has the second-largest holding in Sony. PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio) has the largest stake with 43,105,224 shares.

Ryman Hospitality Holdings

Ryman Hospitality Holdings, a Nashville, Tennessee-based real estate investment trust, represents 1.74% of the equity portfolio.

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Ryman, the owner of Gaylord Texan, operates two business segments: hospitality and entertainment. The former focuses on the company’s hotel properties and operations while the latter focuses on the company’s Grand Ole Opry assets and other Nashville attractions.

Ryman CEO Colin Reed said on Nov. 6 that strong outside-the-room spending contributed to 6.9% growth in consolidated operating income and 12.1% growth in consolidated adjusted EBITDA growth for the quarter. GuruFocus ranks the REIT’s profitability 7 out of 10 on several positive indicators, which include a strong Piotroski F-score of 7 and a three-year revenue growth rate that outperforms 76% of global competitors.

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Other gurus with holdings in Ryman include Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) and Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio).

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, the holding company of the New York Knicks basketball team, represents 1.70% of the equity portfolio.

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Madison Square Garden operates two business segments: MSG Sports and MSG Entertainment. The company owns the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, “evergreen content and venue assets” that benefit form “sustainable barriers to entry and long-term secular growth” according to the manager’s letter.

GuruFocus ranks the company’s financial strength 7 out of 10 on several positive indicators, which include a high Piotroski F-score of 7, a solid Altman Z-score of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio that ranks higher than 93% of global leisure companies.

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Crane

Crane, a diversified manufacturer of engineered industrial products, represents 1.49% of the equity portfolio.

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GuruFocus ranks the company’s profitability 7 out of 10: operating margins are still outperforming 81% of global competitors despite contracting approximately 2.3% per year over the past five years.

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Honeywell

Honeywell, a Morris Plains, New Jersey-based diversified industrials company, represents 1.48% of the equity portfolio.

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Honeywell operates four business segments: aerospace, home and building technologies, safety and productivity solutions and performance materials. GuruFocus ranks the company’s profitability 8 out of 10 on several positive signs, which include expanding profit margins and a strong Piotroski F-score of 7. Honeywell’s operating margin of 17.56% outperforms 86% of global competitors.

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Disclosure: No positions.

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