2. Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)
Value of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s 13F Position: $88 million
Quarter First Initiated Position: Q4, 2022
Bill Gates’ investment company first initiated a position in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) during the final quarter of 2022 by purchasing 2.2 million shares. In the following quarters, its position remained unchanged. Hormel Foods fits perfectly with Bill Gates’ buy-and-hold strategy because the company offers a high dividend yield of around 4% while its shares have the potential for long-term share price appreciation. It has increased dividends for the past 56 years in a row, and its stock price has surged by 70% in the last ten years. Hormel Foods is a consumer staples company that develops, processes, and distributes various meat, nuts, and food products in the United States and internationally.
Hormel Foods was in 24 hedge fund positions as of the end of the second quarter, down from 30 in the previous quarter.
1. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NASDAQ:BUD)
Value of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s 13F Position: $96 million
Quarter First Initiated Position: Q2, 2023
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NASDAQ:BUD) is among the Bill Gates’ investment company’s newest stock picks. During the second quarter of 2023, his firm initiated a position in the company by purchasing a $96 million stake. Anheuser-Busch sells beer and beverages and has a portfolio of approximately 500 beer brands. In the most recent quarter, its organic revenue increased by 7.2% year over year, with revenue per hectoliter increasing by 9.0%.
In the second quarter investor letter, Broyhill Asset Management, a boutique investment firm, commented about Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV. Here is what the firm said:
“The largest detractors to performance over the quarter were First Horizon Corp (FHN), Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD), and Bayer (BAYRY). Problems at Anheuser Busch InBev began on April 1 with Dylan Mulvaney’s social media post, which ignited a fiery backlash amongst Bud Light customers across ‘Merica. With volumes down sharply, and competitors gaining share at BUD’s expense, operational deleveraging is set to weigh heavily on US margins amid peak demand pressure in the second quarter. Despite severe US headwinds (second-quarter operating profit maybe half of last year’s levels), we still expect BUD to grow consolidated operating profit at a mid-single-digit rate for the full year. With current issues well understood and investor sentiment in the gutters, we see significant upside in a stock, which is approaching a double-digit FCF yield. With FX headwinds and rising input costs reversing course, increasing margins are likely to drive positive surprises into FY24 as continued deleveraging accrues more value to shareholders.”
You can also take a look at the What Ray Dalio Is Doing These Days? – Top 10 Stock Picks in 2023 and 15 Stocks Dumb Money’s Steve Cohen Is Betting On Now.
