Billionaire David Einhorn’s Favorite Dividend Stock Picks

#3 Vodafone Group Plc (ADR)(NASDAQ:VOD)

– Shares Owned by Greenlight Capital (as of September 30): 889,294

– Value of Holding (as of September 30): $28.22 Million

Vodafone Group Plc (ADR)(NASDAQ:VOD) is among the few large-cap stocks that currently boasts of an annual dividend yield of over 5%. This possibly could be a reason why, amid an almost 13% drop in Vodafone Group Plc (ADR)(NASDAQ:VOD)’s stock, during third quarter, Greenlight Capital increased its stake in the company by 40%. Interestingly, during the same period the ownership of the company among funds covered by Insider Monkey declined by seven to 27, but the aggregate value of their holdings saw a jump of over 17%. The UK-based telecom major currently trades at a price-to-book multiple of 0.90, which is significantly lower than of the most US-based telecom companies. Billionaire Jim Simons‘ Renaissance technologies was one of the hedge funds that initiated a stake in Vodafone Group during the third quarter; it held slightly over 1 million shares at the end of September.

#2 General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)

– Shares Owned by Greenlight Capital (as of September 30): 16.3 Million

– Value of Holding (as of September 30): $490 Million

Greenlight Capital took advantage of the almost 9% decline in General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)’s stock during the third quarter by boosting its holdings in the company by 55%. This bet has paid off quite handsomely during the fourth quarter as General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)’s stock registered an almost 15% climb during that period and closed last year flat. Despite the recent run-up in its stock, the $0.36 quarterly dividend that the company currently pays translates into a lucrative dividend yield of 4.18%. On December 10, the company’s shareholder finally had a sigh of relief after it announced that it has settled its long-standing faulty ignition switch case – which had caused 124 deaths – by agreeing to pay $594 million. Maverick investor Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway also increased its stake in General Motors Company (by 22%) during the third quarter.

#1 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

– Shares Owned by Greenlight Capital (as of September 30): 5 Million

– Value of Holding (as of September 30): $73.45 Million

Call it bad luck or error in judgment, but after initiating a stake in the company during the second quarter Greenlight Capital reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 37% during the third quarter when the company’s stock slumped 23.11% and made its 2-year low of $14.25. Since the start of the fourth quarter the stock has been on a constant uptrend and has appreciated by almost 28%. Nevertheless, the ownership of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) among funds covered by Insider Monkey also declined by 11 to 54 at the end of the third quarter. The company is scheduled to report its fiscal 2016 first quarter earnings in February and analysts expect it to declare EPS of $0.25 on revenue of $2.24 billion, which will be lower than the EPS of $0.27 on revenue of $2.36 billion it had reported for the same quarter last year. John Overdeck and David Siegel‘s Two Sigma Advisors more than doubled its stake in the company to over 7.4 million shares during the third quarter.

Disclosure: None