Billionaire Jacob Rothschild’s Top Bets This Quarter

#3 Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Shares Owned by RIT Capital Partners (as of December 31): 898,500

Value of Holding (as of December 31): $50.7 million

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)’s stock also started 2016 on a weak note, but the rally in anticipation of their fourth quarter results has offset the decline and the stock is currently trading with year-to-date gains of 2.32%. Interestingly, Comcast Corporation’s was able to sustain its gains even though the company reported worse-than-expected fourth quarter numbers. While analysts had projected EPS of $0.82 on revenue of $18.76 billion, it reported EPS of $0.81 on revenue of $17.73 billion. Despite the earnings and revenue miss, most analysts are still bullish on the company, primarily because of the growth it has had despite a rise in cord-cutting. While RIT Capital Partners reduced its stake in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 5% during the fourth quarter, Alex Snow‘s Lansdowne Partners increased its stake by 5% to 29.35 million shares.

#2 McGraw Hill Financial Inc (NYSE:MHFI)

Shares Owned by RIT Capital Partners (as of December 31): 641,500

Value of Holding (as of December 31): $63.23 million

Amid an almost 14% rise of the McGraw Hill Financial Inc (NYSE:MHFI)’s stock during the fourth quarter, RIT Capital Partners cut its stake in the company by 4%. On February 4, along with its fourth quarter results, the company announced that later this year it would change its name (for the first time in its 128 year history) to S&P Global Inc. For the fourth quarter, McGraw Hill Financial Inc (NYSE:MHFI) declared EPS of $1.04 on revenue of $1.37 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of EPS of $1.02 on $1.38 billion in revenue. It also revealed that it bought back 5 million of its shares during the quarter, bringing its 2015 total buyback to 10 million shares, and still has 35 million shares under its current buyback program. Patrick Degorce‘s Theleme Partners increased its stake in McGraw Hill Financial by 7% to 1.63 million shares during the October-December period.

#1 Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)

Shares Owned by RIT Capital Partners (as of December 31): 1.04 million

Value of Holding (as of December 31): $69.02 million

Finally, Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) remained RIT Capital Partners’ top pick at the end of December despite the fund having reduced its stake by 4% during the fourth quarter. Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) have been largely range-bound for the past two years and according to most analysts there are no reasons for them to move higher in the short- to medium-term. The reasons they are not optimistic about the company’s future are its slow growth rates, the low annual yield of its stock in comparison to peers and the high valuation at 22.41 times forward earnings. The stock currently sports an average ‘Hold’ rating and has a consensus price target of $69.43. Billionaire Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies also cut its stake in Colgate-Palmolive Company by 12% to 10.06 million shares during the fourth quarter.

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