Value investor Charles Brandes (Trades, Portfolio) found value in parting with portions of four of the 10 largest stakes in his portfolio in the third quarter.
Brandes, who chairs Brandes Investment Partners, which he founded in 1974, sold portions of his holdings in the top two stakes (by shares) in his portfolio – Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (PBR.A, Financial) and America Movil SAB de CV (AMX, Financial). He also sold portions of his fourth-largest stake – Tim Participacoes SA (TSU, Financial) – and his sixth-largest stake – Embraer S.A. (ERJ, Financial).
In the third quarter, Brandes invested in 18 companies that are new to his portfolio – Copa Holdings SA (CPA, Financial), Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores SA (AVAL, Financial), Ternium SA (TX, Financial), American International Group Inc (AIG, Financial), Xilinx Inc (XLNX, Financial), Aaron's Inc (AAN, Financial), American Superconductor Corp (AMSC, Financial), China Green Agriculture Inc (CGA), Forest Oil Corp (FSTO), Amicus Therapeutics Inc (FOLD), American Apparel Inc (APP), British American Tobacco PLC (BTI), Education Management Corp (EDMC), Silvercorp Metals Inc (SVM), Resources Connection Inc (RECN), Sigma Designs Inc (SIGM), SORL Auto Parts Inc (SORL) and WR Berkley Corp (WRB).
He bought 402,847 shares of Copa Holdings, a Panamanian holding company, for an average price of $133.16 per share. That transaction had a 0.63% impact on his portfolio.
Brandes’ investment in 2,274,130 shares of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores, a Colombian holding company, was made for an average price of $13.67 per share. The purchase had a 0.45% impact on his portfolio.
Brandes added to his stakes in 21 other companies in the third quarter – Willis Group Holdings PLC (WSH), GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK), UBS Group AG (UBS), Barclays PLC (BCS), Companhia De Saneamento Basico Do Estad (SBS), Adecoagro SA (AGRO), Express Scripts (ESRX), Honda Motor Co Ltd (HMC), Philip Morris International Inc (PM), Energy Company of Parana (ELP), Outfront Media Inc (OUT), M D C Holdings Inc (MDC), Ixia (XXIA), Beazer Homes USA Inc (BZH), Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO), Comfort Systems USA Inc (FIX), Callaway Golf Co (ELY), Bank Bradesco (BBDO), Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (TKC), Sohu.com Inc (SOHU) and United Financial Bancorp Inc (UBNK).
He invested in 2,533,851 shares of Willis Group Holdings, a London-based insurance broker, for an average price of $41.98 per share. The acquisition had a 1.37% impact on his portfolio.
Divestitures and reductions
Brandes sold his stakes in 20 companies – Gulf Resources Inc (GURE), Intevac Inc (IVAC), Juniper Networks Inc (JNPR), Apollo Education Group Inc (APOL), Marvell Technology Group Ltd (MRVL), Speedway Motorsports Inc (TRK), Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc (RIGL), RadioShack Corp (RSH), Wipro Ltd (WIT), Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (PBR), Maxwell Technologies Inc (MXWL), Oclaro Inc (OCLR), Intel Corp (INTC), Telefonica SA (TEF), AstraZeneca PLC (AZN), Symantec Corp (SYMC), Seventy Seven Energy Inc (SSE), Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (FDP), Sierra Wireless Inc (SWIR) and Desarrolladora Homex SAB de CV (DHOXQ).
He sold 4,300,825 shares of Intel, a California-based semiconductor company, for an average price of $33.86 per share. The deal had a -1.6% impact on his portfolio.
Brandes also reduced his holdings in 24 companies – Great Panther Silver Ltd (GPL), America Movil SAB de CV, Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras, Banco Santander Brasil SA/Brazil (BSBR), Microsoft Corp (MSFT), Western Digital Corp (WDC), Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (NTT), Corning Inc (GLW), Eli Lilly and Co (LLY), PepsiCo Inc (PEP), China Mobile Ltd (CHL), Tim Participacoes SA, Embraer S.A., Flextronics International Ltd (FLEX), Eni SpA (E), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK), Molson Coors Brewing Co (TAP), Wells Fargo & Co (WFC), Celestica Inc (CLS), CRA International, Inc. (CRAI), OmniVision Technologies Inc (OVTI), Amedisys Inc (AMED), St Joe Corp (JOE) and UTStarcom Holdings Corp (UTSI).
Brandes sold 6,283,730 shares of America Movil, a telecommunications company based in Mexico City, for an average price of $24.08 per share. The transaction had a -1.58% impact on his portfolio.
To view the portfolios of more gurus, visit the List of Gurus page. Not a premium member of GuruFocus? Try it free for 7 days.
