The Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund (Trades, Portfolio), which seeks stocks of growth-oriented companies based in Japan, started four positions in the fourth quarter, it announced Tuesday.
The new stocks fund management purchased were: Nippon Signal Co. Ltd. (TSE:6741, Financial), TPR Co. Ltd. (TSE:6463, Financial), Kawada Technologies Inc. (TSE:3443, Financial) and Juki Corp. (TSE:6440, Financial). At fourth quarter-end, the fund held 59 positions valued around $198.1 million.
Its largest sector weightings were spread among industrials at 37.66% of stocks, technology at 24.41% and consumer cyclical at 15.8%.
While the fund declined in 2018, posting a 12.51% loss compared to 18.12% for its benchmark Russell/Nomura Small Cap Index, it has outperformed since inception. The fund returned 9.51% annualized since its founding in 2007 versus a 5.02% annualized return in the index.
To select stocks, the fund’s managers seek small-cap companies with good businesses and management that trade at prices below their estimate of intrinsic value.
Nippon Signal Co. Ltd. (TSE:6741, Financial)
Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund (Trades, Portfolio) purchased 231,900 shares of the company, giving it 1.07% portfolio weight. The stock’s fourth-quarter share price averaged 1,099 yen.
Nippon Signal Co. Ltd. has a market cap of 58.43 billion yen; its shares were traded around 893.00 yen Tuesday with a price-earnings ratio of 17.38 and price-sales ratio of 0.66. The trailing 12-month dividend yield of Nippon Signal Co. Ltd. stocks is 2.68%. The forward dividend yield of Nippon Signal Co. Ltd. stocks is 3.80%.
TPR Co. Ltd. (TSE:6463, Financial)
Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund (Trades, Portfolio) purchased 75,600 shares of the company, giving it 0.93% portfolio weight. The stock’s fourth-quarter share price averaged 2,764 yen.
TPR Co. Ltd. has a market cap of $78.95 billion; its shares were traded around 2195.00 yen with a price-earnings ratio of 6.65 and price-sales ratio of 0.42. The trailing 12-month dividend yield of TPR Co. Ltd. stocks is 2.39%. The forward dividend yield of TPR Co. Ltd .stocks is 2.43%. TPR Co. Ltd. had an annual average earnings growth of 18.70% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated TPR Co. Ltd. the business predictability rank of 2-star.
Kawada Technologies Inc. (TSE:3443, Financial)
The fund purchased 20,400 shares of the company, giving it 0.59% portfolio weight. The stocks’ fourth-quarter share price averaged 6,300 yen.
Kawada Technologies Inc. has a market cap of 40.83 billion yen; its shares were traded around 7,090.00 yen Tuesday with a price-earnings ratio of 6.07 and price-sales ratio of 0.36. The trailing 12-month dividend yield of Kawada Technologies Inc. stocks is 0.85%. The forward dividend yield of Kawada Technologies Inc. stocks is 0.85%. Kawada Technologies Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 13.30% over the past five years.
Juki Corp. (TSE:6440, Financial)
The fund purchased 90,700 shares of the company, giving it 0.51% portfolio weight. The stock’s fourth-quarter share price averaged 1,304 yen.
Juki Corp. has a market cap of 32.28 billion yen; its shares were traded around 1,146.00 yen Tuesday with a price-earnings ratio of 5.85 and price-sales ratio of 0.29. The trailing 12-month dividend yield of Juki Corp. stocks is 4.08%. The forward dividend yield of Juki Corp. stocks is 4.54%. Juki Corp. had an annual average earnings growth of 21.70% over the past five years.
See the Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund (Trades, Portfolio)’s portfolio here.
