Introduction

Since Larry Culp took the helm, replacing John Flannery, as CEO of General Electric Co. (GE) in October 2018, many things have changed.

Let's take a brief look at what was achieved and announced in order to understand where we are with the deep restructuring process Culp and the board have been working on so far.

One of Culp's very first announcements on Oct. 30, 2018 was the reduction of the quarterly dividend to a penny from 12 cents per share.

On Feb. 25, 2019, GE announced its plans to sell its biopharma unit for $21.4 billion to Danaher

Richard Pzena (Trades, Portfolio), leader of Pzena Investment Management LLC, bought shares of the following stocks during the fourth quarter.

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies

The firm increased its Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. (WAB) stake by 46.7%. The portfolio was impacted by 0.75%.

The provider of technology based products for the rail industry has a market cap of $14.70 billion and an enterprise value of $18.89 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The return on equity of 3.21% and return on

Investment firm Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss bought shares of the following stocks in both the first and second quarters.

SpartanNash Co. (SPTN)

The firm increased its position by 63.85% in the first quarter and by 24.82% in the second quarter. The stock has a weight of 0.01% in the equity portfolio.

The wholesale grocery distributor has a market cap of $406.95 million. Its revenue of $8.32 billion has grown at an average rate of 9.50% per annum over the past five years.

Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio)’ Renaissance Technologies is the

Pzena Investment Management leader Richard Pzena (Trades, Portfolio) bought shares of the following stocks during the second quarter.

The guru boosted his Halliburton Co. (HAL) stake by 89.83%. The trade had an impact of 1.34% on the portfolio.

The oilfield services company has a market cap of $16.90 billion and an enterprise value of $27.02 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 6 out of 10. The return on equity of 14.27% and return on assets of 5.05% are outperforming 61% of companies in the Oil &

Ronald Muhlenkamp (Trades, Portfolio), founder and president of Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc., disclosed this week he established five new positions during the first quarter: Broadcom Inc. (AVGO), Cigna Corp. (CI), Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. (WAB), Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) and Morgan Stanley (MS).

Muhlenkamp seeks companies with strong balance sheets and high returns on equity. The guru believes that over time, stock prices reflect the companies’ underlying value and that the long-term business of investing offers a higher chance of profitability and reliability.

As of quarter-end, Muhlenkamp’s $211 million

Pzena Investment Management founder Richard Pzena (Trades, Portfolio) released his first-quarter portfolio last week, listing 11 new holdings.

The guru’s New York-based firm says on its website it uses a classic value approach to invest in good businesses that are underperforming their historical earnings power.

Based on these criteria, Pzena’s five largest new buys for the quarter were PVH Corp. (PVH), Mohawk Industries Inc. (MHK), Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. (WAB), CNO Financial Group Inc. (CNO) and Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc. (SPB).

PVH

In his largest trade of the quarter, Pzena invested in 1.9 million

The CI Can Am Small Cap (Trades, Portfolio) Fund, part of CI Investments Inc., disclosed it established three new positions when it released its semi-annual portfolio earlier this week.

Managed by Joe Jugovic, the Toronto-based fund seeks long-term capital growth by investing in small-cap, Canadian companies. It will also take positions in foreign securities.

Based on these criteria, the fund invested in Linamar Corp. (TSX:LNR), ARC Resources Ltd. (TSX:ARX) and Element Fleet Management Corp. (TSX:EFN).

Linamar

The portfolio manager invested in 95,090 shares of Linamar for an average price of 62.77 Canadian dollars ($46.98) per share,

According to GuruFocus insider data, the recent chief financial officer sells were Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG), CoStar Group Inc. (CSGP) and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. (WAB).

Intuitive Surgical CFO sold 8,250 shares

Executive Vice President and CFO Marshall Mohr sold 8,250 shares for $508.5 per share on July 30. Since then, the stock price has increased by 1.44%.

Intuitive Surgical has a market cap of $58.67 billion and its shares were traded around $515.82. The company has a price-earnings ratio of 76.08 and a price-sales ratio of 17.59. Over the past decade, the company had an annual average earnings

According to GuruFocus’ All-In-One Screener, the following stocks have a five-year growing dividend yield with strong profitability and a long-term track record of solid returns and growing asset value.

Agrium Inc. (AGU) has a dividend yield that has grown 105% over the last five years. The yield is now 3.48% with a payout ratio of 67%. The company has a 10-year asset growth rate of 21%, supported by a current return on assets (ROA) of 4.28%.

The profitability rating of 8 of 10 is confirmed by a current return on equity (ROE) of 11.65%. The ROE and ROA are

The CI Can-Am Small Cap fund focuses on long-term returns by investing in small-cap companies in Canada and internationally. For the year, the fund has returned 19.3% and since inception, it has returned 9.3% on average annually.

It has $164.6 million in assets under management, distributed among different industries, with energy and financial services being the most prominent, at a combined 49.7% of the portfolio. During the third quarter, fund managers started six new equity positions and had 40 in all by the end of the quarter, according to its portfolio update released last week to the SEC.

Its largest

Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) once likened valuation to Aesop’s fable, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” The trick though, he tells us, lies in figuring out how many birds are in the bush, when they will appear, and our certainty of the birds’ existence. Let’s take a closer look at a key valuation input, growth rates, and see if we can better determine how many birds are in the bush.

Growing Pains

In building a discounted cash flow model, one must decide on a growth rate. Where do

Thanks to GuruFocus’ All-In-One Screener, we can highlight stocks that have a five-year growing dividend yield with strong profitability and a long-term track record of solid returns and growing asset value.

Agrium Inc. (AGU) has a dividend yield that during the last five years has grown by 105.20%. The yield is now 3.86% with a payout ratio of 56%. The company has a 10-year asset growth rate of 21%, supported by return on assets (ROA) of 15% that during the last 10 years has had a median value of 6.67%.

GuruFocus’ profitability rating of 8/10 is confirmed by

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (“Wabtec”) (NYSE:WAB) is the leading manufacturer of safety and productivity products for railroads. Its shares fell because of uncertainty around the strength of its rail customers, as the global industrial economy slowed, coupled with the potential impact of Brexit. Wabtec generates about half its revenues outside the U.S., resulting in stiff foreign currency headwinds. We believe the company should be able to grow its mass transit business even in this tougher environment. In addition, we are excited about the potential benefits of its pending acquisition of its largest European competitor.

Baron Asset Fund second

Mariko Gordon (Trades, Portfolio)’s Daruma Capital Management has had an enviable record of late. It registered a return of 44.08% in 2014 and 19.89% in 2013. Gordon started the firm 20 years ago with no assets under management. Today Gordon's firm has more than $2 billion in assets. Not bad for someone whose college degree was in comparative literature.

The most significant transaction that Gordon made in the second quarter was the sale of her stake in Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. (WAB), a Pennsylvania-based maker of products for the rail industry. Gordon sold her 747,443-share stake

In a high tech age, an age that now depends on dashboard GPS and waits for the driverless car, it’s easy to take railroads for granted. And perhaps even easier to not see the gritty components that keep the steel wheels moving.

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB), which dates its origins back almost a century and a half, makes many of the components you see (or don’t see) inside the wheels of millions of train cars and locomotives. And, in some cases, it makes the locomotives, too. It may also have made many parts of the transit trains that we

The Fund also added to its holdings in Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (WAB), or "Wabtec." The company is a leading provider of component parts and services to the global rail industry. The company dates back to 1869, and it was an original part of George Westinghouse's industrial empire. Today, Wabtec is a leading supplier of critical components, such as airbrakes, couplers, doors, and electronics, to railcar and locomotive manufacturers. Once installed on these train platforms, Wabtec becomes an integral aftermarket service provider to various railroad operators and transportation authorities. As rail volumes naturally increase when the economy strengthens, more