First Eagle Investment Has A Material Fondness for These 5 Materials Stocks

Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG)

– Shares Owned by First Eagle Investment Management (as of June 30): 39.46 Million

– Value of Holding (as of June 30): $754.94 Million

Moving on, First Eagle lowered its holding in Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG) marginally during the April-to-June period, by 1%. The fund initiated its stake in the company exactly a decade ago, during the third quarter of 2006. Though Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG)’s stock has performed well this year, rising by 66.15%, it is still down by over 60% over the last five years. For its second quarter, the company reported a loss of $0.09 per share on revenue of $753 million widely missing analysts’ expectations of EPS of $0.02 on revenue of $905.66 million. On August 8, analysts at Morgan Stanley published a note in which they initiated coverage on the stock with an ‘Outperform’ rating and $22 price target. In their note, the analysts noted that the underperformance of Goldcorp’s stock this year compared to its peers has created a suitable entry point of investors. John Horseman‘s Horseman Capital Management bought 856,700 shares of the company during the second quarter, taking a new position in the stock.

Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX)

– Shares Owned by First Eagle Investment Management (as of June 30): 37.50 Million

– Value of Holding (as of June 30): $800.71 Million

Amid a 57% rise in Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX)’s stock during the second quarter, First Eagle inched down its holding in the company by 2%. Out of all of the gold mining stocks we have discussed, Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX) has been the best performer this year, rising by 200%. The stock didn’t take a break even when the company reported weaker than expected second quarter results on July 28. According to analysts, that’s because the company displayed strength in other areas during the quarter, such as generating strong levels of free cash flow and raising ample proceeds through asset sales which will help it further reduce its debt load going forward. On August 12, analysts at TD Securities released a note in which they said that the company’s goal of reducing its debt burden to $5 billion from $9 billion by the end of the second quarter is within reach if one takes into account the proceeds it will generate from selling its 64% stake in Acacia Mining and its 50% non-operating interest in Australia’s Kalgoorlie mine. David Iben‘s Kopernik Global Investors reduced its Barrick Gold holding by 15% to 2.56 million shares during the second quarter.

Weyerhaeuser Co (NYSE:WY)

– Shares Owned by First Eagle Investment Management (as of June 30): 37.14 Million

– Value of Holding (as of June 30): $1.10 Billion

Weyerhaeuser Co (NYSE:WY) continued to remain First Eagle’s largest materials sector holding and its fourth-most valuable equity holding at the end of second quarter. The real estate investment trust (REIT) is also the only non-mining stock covered in this article, and the one that has seen the smallest gain in 2016, rising by 5.27%. In May, Weyerhaeuser Co (NYSE:WY) announced that it had agreed to sell its cellulose fibers pulp mills to International Paper Co (NYSE:IP) for $2.2 billion in an all-cash deal. On August 5, the REIT reported its second quarter results, declaring EPS of $0.21 on revenue of $1.41 billion, with its results having fallen from $0.26 and $1.80 billion respectively a year earlier. Currently, Weyerhaeuser’s stock sports an average rating of ‘Overweight’ and an average price target of $34.93 from the 13 leading analysts and research firms on Wall Street who cover it. Matthew Tewksbury‘s Stevens Capital Management initiated a stake in the company during the second quarter, purchasing 307,787 shares.

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