Bernard Horn (Trades, Portfolio) of Polaris Global Value Fund increased his stakes in three positions during 1QFY15, according to GuruFocus Real Time Picks.
Horn increased his stakes in Marathon Oil Corp (MRO) by adding 76,300 shares that were purchased at an average price of $27.13 a share.
Marathon Oil Corp is an international independent energy company that explores, produces and markets hydrocarbons and natural gas and also produces and markets products manufactured from natural gas and oil sands. The company was incorporated in 2001.
Horn has
spoken highly of the company in his past Q4 2014 Shareholder Letter,
"The company differentiates itself from competitors with a business model that focuses on domestic refining and gas station franchises."According to the Peter Lynch earnings line, Marathon Corp's value is $13.80. The stock is currently trading at $28.02, which indicates that it may be overvalued.
The P/E ratio is 11.62, which is close to its two-year low of 11.70. This is a good sign for investors.
Revenue per share for the trailing twelve months as of March 2015 was $14.65 and its growth rate for the year was -10.20%. The company's revenue has been declining over the past five years, as shown in the chart above.
35,000 shares of
BHP Billiton PLC (BBL) were purchased at an average price of $42.84 a share. In total, he owns 80,900 shares of BBL.
BHP explores, develops, processes and produces minerals, as well as oil and gas. The company was incorporated in 1996.
According to the DCF calculator, BHP's intrinsic value is $134.42 a share with a 67% margin of safety, whcih indicates the stock may currently be undervalued. It is currently trading at $43.74 a share and has a business predictability rating of 3 stars out of 5.
As of June 2014, the company's buyback ratio was 1.20. Its highest ratio for the three years was 0.40 and its lowest was 3.10. BHP's track record for buying back shares has been poor, as it is traded at -22.1% of its average buyback price.
Horn also increased his stakes in
GTECH SPA (
GTK.MI)
Horn purchased 43,600 shares of GTECH SPA at an average price of ?18.08 a share, bringing his total to 177,989 shares in his portfolio.
In his shareholder letter in 2014, Horn said about the company:
"At the other end of the spectrum, Italian lottery/gaming operator GTECH (GTK.MI)'s stock price dropped after rumors emerged of a potentially expensive acquisition of a casino machine equipment manufacturer, which would add more debt to GTECH's balance sheet."Revenue per share for the trailing twelve months as of September 2014 was ?17.41 and its growth rate for the year was 0.2%. THe company's revenue growth has slowed down over the past year, as the chart above shows.
For more information on Horn's portfolio, click here.This article first appeared on
GuruFocus.