Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management increased its stake in General Cable Corporation (NYSE:BGC) by around 1.9 million shares. According to the 13G Form filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, the investment firm now holds a position of 2.6 million Common Shares, representing 5.5% of the company’s outstanding stock.
Pzena Investment Management was founded by Richard S. Pzena in 1996 and is headquartered in New York City. The firm employs a traditional value investment strategy and has $27 billion in assets under management, as of June 2014. In addition to seeking out equities with a good track record and attractive long-term returns, the investment firm focuses a lot on the potential earnings of a company. Furthermore, Pzena Investment Management boasts an equity portfolio valued at around $18.2 million, with 38% of its holdings stemming from the finance industry. At the end of the third quarter, Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) represented the investment firm’s largest position, with a stake of approximately 20.8 million shares. Pzena’s top picks also included Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) and Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A), although neither of these equities represents even 3% of its equity portfolio. Most recently, the investment firm increased its exposure to News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) to 6.97% of the company’s Class A Stock.
At the end of the third quarter, Pzena Investment Management disclosed a position of 741,300 shares in General Cable Corporation (NYSE:BGC). Since then, the stock dropped by around 27% and lost more than 61% of its value over the past year. This downwards trend has certainly allowed investors, such as Pzena, to acquire shares at a significant discount, since shares have fallen to their lowest level of the past six years. Although this might seem discouraging to some, numerous investors are betting on the company, as they believe the negative trajectory will soon come to an end. According to its latest 13F filing, Alexander Roepers’ Atlantic Investment Management owns a stake of 1.74 million shares in the company, after increasing its exposure by 85% during the third quarter. Another institutional investors backing General Cable Corporation (NYSE:BGC) is Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, with a holding of approximately 1.0 million shares.
General Cable is a $556 million market cap company operating in the industrial equipment & components industry. Its main activities include designing, developing, and manufacturing copper, aluminium, and fiber optic wire and other cable products. The company caters to the energy, industrial, and communications markets and is active on a global scale.
At the end of 2014, General Cable concluded the sale of its stake in Phelps Dodge International Philippines, Inc., which allowed it to obtain $67 million in cash. The proceeds will be directed towards the reduction of the outstanding debt currently affecting the company’s assets in North America and Europe. Furthermore, this recent transaction comes as part of General Cable’s overall plan to divest all of its operations in the Asia Pacific and Africa regions. According to the company, this will result in a simplified geographic portfolio and in turn, enable it to concentrate on its core strategic markets.
Meanwhile, as General Cable Corporation (NYSE:BGC)’s stock has been plummeting over the past year, in December the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share on its outstanding stock. Furthermore, the Board of Directors recently appointed new executives, lending new strength and experience to the company’s leadership team. In addition, General Cable created a new position – Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer – which will be filled by Kurt L. Drake, who has more than 19 years of experience in the fields of compliance and finance.
Pzena Investment Management is surely hoping to hear some good news at General Cable’s upcoming webcast discussion of its fourth quarter earnings. Currently, quarterly earnings consensus estimate stands at $0.44 per share, up from $0.36 per share the company reported for the fourth quarter of 2013. In addition, the revenue for the fourth quarter is expected at $1.6 billion, compared to $1.7 billion posted for the same period last year. Furthermore, for full-2014, analysts expect earnings of $1.09 per share, with revenue estimated to reach $6.1 billion.
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