5 Under-the-Radar Stocks That Billionaires Were Buying in Q1

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

 – Billionaires with long positions (as of March 31) : 7

 – Aggregate value of Billionaires’ holdings (as of March 31): $414.68 million

Though Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) is not a company that needs much introduction, its stock has surely been under-the-radar for a long time. It was only in April that the stock gained some limelight after it broke above the $100 mark for the first time. It seems that billionaire investors were already expecting this, as their ownership of the company increased by five and the aggregate value of their holdings in it appreciated by 178% during the first quarter. Despite the rally in its stock, the $1.02 per share quarterly dividend that Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) pays out still translates into an attractive annual dividend yield of over 4%. On April 21, analysts at Societe Generale upgraded the stock to ‘Hold’ from ‘Sell’ and also raised their price target on it to $99 from $77. During the first quarter, billionaire Cliff Asness‘ AQR Capital Management inched up its stake in the company by 3% to 1.34 million shares.

Energen Corporation (NYSE:EGN)

 – Billionaires with long positions (as of March 31) : 6

 – Aggregate value of Billionaires’ holdings (as of March 31): $216.72 million

The almost 50% rise in crude oil prices since mid-February has greatly helped the stock of several oil companies like Energen Corporation (NYSE:EGN). This rise has also raised the popularity of oil stocks among hedge funds and billionaire investors. With ownership of 1.59 million shares of the company, Israel Englander‘s Millennium Management was the only billionaire-led fund among those we track that had a stake in Energen Corporation (NYSE:EGN) at the end of 2015. Though the number of billionaires long Energen increased by five during the first quarter, Millennium Management continued to remain its largest shareholder among them, having increased its stake by 92% to 3.04 million shares during the period. On May 13, analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ and also raised their price target on it to $51 from $43, citing the company’s robust balance sheet.

AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME)

 – Billionaires with long positions (as of March 31) : 8

 – Aggregate value of Billionaires’ holdings (as of March 31): $385.24 million

Finally, AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) was the top under-the-radar stock in terms of its increase in popularity during the first quarter among the billionaire investors in our system. Its ownership among those billionaires rose by seven while the aggregate value of their holdings in it increased by nearly 180% during the first quarter. Though it lands atop this list, it’s also the only stock that is currently trading in the red in 2016, being down by 12%. For the first quarter, the company reported EPS of $0.57, which was in-line with analysts’ expectations, on revenue of $944.40 million, which missed estimates by $20.86 million. Following the earnings release, several analysts downgraded the stock, including analysts at Atlantic Securities, who lowered their rating to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’ while maintaining their $51 price target on it on April 29. Billionaire Ken Griffin‘s Citadel Investment Group upped its stake in the company by 861% to 1.3 million shares during the first quarter.

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