Jacob Rothschild’s Fund Dumps Huge Positions In Alibaba (BABA), Coca-Cola (KO), Buys These Stocks

RIT Capital Partners was founded by Jacob Rothschild in 1961, under the name Rothschild Investment Trust. As per its site, since the company was listed in the London Stock Exchange in 1988, its stocks have returned an average of 12.6% per year, comfortably outperforming global equity markets. Nowadays, Rothschild is no longer involved in day-to-day portfolio management activities; instead, that task is now performed by an executive committee, which, over the third quarter, decided to buy ten new stocks, and to sell out of just four.

As per the firm’s latest 13F filing, its consumer discretionary-focused equity portfolio was valued at almost $138 million as of September 30. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the largest positions closed, as well as some of the most relevant new additions.

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Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA)

Let’s start with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), one of RIT’s largest positions as of June 30, valued at more than $15.1 million. Over the third quarter, RIT sold all of its 190,000 shares, as the stock gained more than 35.5%. Also leaving the company was Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management, which disposed of 48,412 shares, 45,800 call options, and 3,900 put options, during the third quarter.

So far, Visium and RIT Capital’s choice seems like a smart one. Since the third quarter ended, shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) have lost almost 15.75% of their value. It should be noted, however, that most of the decline happened after Donald Trump was elected President of the U.S., driven by worries about possible tariffs on imports and a potential devaluation of the Yuan. But, on top of this, the company is facing an SEC investigation into its accounting practices, which is certainly not helping its stock.

The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO)

The other very large position RIT Capital sold out of was in The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO). As per its most recent 13F, the fund unloaded all of its 574,000 shares (or about $26 million in stock) between July and September. And, once again, RIT was not alone. Among the other firms that left the beverage company over the third quarter were Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP, which sold their 212,517 shares and 23,766 shares respectively over the period.

Quarter-to-date, RIT Capital’s decision to exit The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) has also proven beneficial, as the stock has dipped by more than 2% since October started. Shares of Coca-Cola have been trending this week, after an article published on the Telegraph pointed out why Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV (ADR) (NYSE:BUD), which is looking into acquisition targets, has strong incentives to purchase the famed beverages company.

 – For some fun facts on soda, check out our list of the The 8 Most Valuable Vintage Soda Bottles in the World.

We’ll check out three of the fund’s new stock picks on the next page.

S&P Global Inc (NYSE:SPGI)

– Shares Owned by RIT Capital (as of September 30): 329,000

– Value of the Holding (as of September 30): $41.63 million

The largest new position that RIT Capital initiated in the third quarter was in S&P Global Inc (NYSE:SPGI). Also bullish on the data analytics company was David Cohen and Harold Levy’s Iridian Asset Management, which disclosed ownership of 3.14 million shares of the stock valued at more than $398 million as of September 30.

Shares of S&P Global Inc (NYSE:SPGI) have spiked by almost 25% year-to-date, but have lost about 1.45% since the fourth quarter started. A few days ago, the company reported third quarter EPS of $1.43 on revenue of $1.44 billion, up by 9.1% year-over-year, beating the Street’s consensus estimates by $0.09 and $20 million, respectively. The stock pays a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, for an annualized yield of 1.17%.

Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX)

– Shares Owned by RIT Capital (as of September 30): 110,000

– Value of the Holding (as of September 30): $ 6.83 million

Another large new stake in RIT Capital’s portfolio was Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX), which accounted for almost 5% of its equity portfolio’s value on September 30. Also long the stock was Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, which increased its position by 24% in the third quarter, giving it 1.43 million shares at the end of September.

Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX), which lost 3.66% over the third quarter, has rebounded with 9.4% gains since the end of September. As most domestic tank barge operators, Kirby is not often in the news. A few weeks ago, the company posted third-quarter EPS of $0.59, beating the Street’s estimate by $0.04. Revenue of $434.71 million was down by 18.4% year-over-year, but still managed to come in $24.54 million ahead of expectations.

Cemex SAB de CV (ADR) (NYSE:CX)

– Shares Owned by RIT Capital (as of September 30): 703,040

– Value of the Holding (as of September 30): $5.58 million

Finally, there’s Cemex SAB de CV (ADR) (NYSE:CX), a new stake that accounted for more than 4% of the value of the firm’s equity portfolio. Also confident on the company was Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, which more than doubled its positon over the third quarter, declaring ownership of 8.7 million shares, or $69.1 million in stock, as of September 30.

Cemex SAB de CV (ADR) (NYSE:CX) has had a very good year, with its stock having appreciated by more than 38%. The fourth-quarter has not been as great though; after a nice start, shares tumbled, driven by a decline in sales in the third quarter, and, especially, by the election of Donald Trump as the next President of the U.S.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned above.