5 Companies Multiple Gurus Are Buying
One of GuruFocus’ useful features is the Consensus Picks of Guruspage, which lists stocks that have been bought or sold by multiple gurus.
On this page, users can filter stocks with the most active buys or sells over three, six, and 12 month time frames. This feature is just one of the ways you can search for investing ideas and see what stocks gurus are interested in.
The following are the top five consensus buys over the past six months.
TRI Pointe Homes (TPH)
Over Q3 and Q4 2014, four gurus bought or added to existing positions in TRI Pointe Homes. Hotchkis & Wiley purchased 1,526,806 shares during Q3, and then added another 1,716,610 shares in the following quarter. David Einhorn (Trades, Portfolio) also purchased 4,408,647 shares in Q4 for an average price of $ 14.26 per share.
TRI Pointe Homes designs, constructs, and sells single-family homes in planned communities throughout Northern and Southern California, as well as Colorado.
In the Q2 commentary letter, Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio), who owns 4.42% of shares outstanding, wrote that TRI benefits from a key asset that doesn’t appear on its financial statements — leadership from real estate investor Barry Sternlicht.
“(Sternlicht) therefore has access to strategic information within the industry that the average executive does not. It appears that he is using TRI Pointe as a new investment vehicle,” Stahl wrote.
Preliminary data for FY 2014 estimates EBIT per share will be $ 1.01, up from $ 0.96 the previous year.
The stock has declined 17% over the past year and currently trades at $ 15.00, with a P/E ratio of 21.8 and P/S ratio of 1.1.
Lending Club (LC)
Seven gurus bought stakes in Lending Club during the fourth quarter, including George Soros(Trades, Portfolio), Chase Coleman (Trades, Portfolio), and Leon Cooperman (Trades, Portfolio). Frank Sands (Trades, Portfolio) owns the largest stake at 9,604,260 shares, or 2.66% of shares outstanding.
Lending Club launched its IPO in December amid investor hype. The company is an online credit marketplace that connects borrowers with lower interest rate loans.
The stock has been down 15% since its IPO and currently trades at $ 19.86. The P/S ratio is 7.1. The company has not turned yet turned a profit.
Owens-Illinois (OI)
As of the fourth quarter, nine gurus hold positions in Owens-Illinois, including David Dreman(Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio). Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio) doubled his stake in the company during the quarter, for a total of 200,000 shares.
Owens-Illinois manufactures glass containers, with 77 glass manufacturing plants in 21 countries. Its products include containers for alcoholic beverages and packaging for food items such as soft drinks, teas, and juices.
The stock has declined 28% over the past year and currently trades at $ 24.58. When comparing the price to the Peter Lynch earnings line, it appears the stock is close to fair valuation.
Over the past five years, the company’s EBIT per share growth rate declined by almost 5%. In FY 2013, EBIT per share recorded at $ 4.60.
The current P/E ratio is 32.1 and the P/S ratio is 0.6.
Wesco Aircraft Holdings (WAIR)
Both Tom Gayner (Trades, Portfolio) and Richard Snow (Trades, Portfolio) added Wesco to their portfolios in the fourth quarter, at 30,000 and 173,340 shares, respectively. Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio) and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) added to their existing stakes during the quarter.
Wesco Aircraft is a distributor and provider of supply chain management services to the global aerospace industry. Its services include management of supplier relationships and quality assurance.
The stock price has declined 31% during the quarter and currently trades at $ 15.24. The Peter Lynch chart shows the stock is fairly valued and earnings are expected to increase.
EBIT per share was $ 1.88 in FY 2013, with not much change from the year before. Over the past five years, the EBIT per share growth rate has increased about 4%.
The current P/E ratio is 14.7, while the P/S ratio is 1.
Qunar Cayman Islands (QUNR)
Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio) and John Burbank (Trades, Portfolio) both initiated positions in Qunar Cayman Islands during the fourth quarter, while Robert Karr (Trades, Portfolio) and Frank Sands (Trades, Portfolio) added to their stakes. A total of seven gurus hold positions in the company.
The company operates an online travel commerce platform in China. It displays real-time information about air tickets, hotels, vacation packages and other travel products.
The company is currently operating at a loss, with EBIT per share recording at $ -0.25 in FY 2013.
Looking at the balance sheet, however, Qunar has a comfortable current ratio of 2.9 and carries no long-term debt.
