In this article, we will take a look at the Ken Fisher’s 12 new stock picks. To see more such companies, go directly to Ken Fisher’s 5 New Stock Picks.
Before we begin to see what Ken Fisher is up to in the context of latest market movements, let’s see a hugely important paragraph from Fisher’s hedge fund’s Q2’2023 report. These lines reflect a ton of wisdom often reiterated by Fisher and clearly defy the overall negative sentiment in the market:
Pundits can’t shake the certainty that rate hikes must doom equities. Many argue the bull market can’t be a sure thing until the Fed is fully done hiking or even starts cutting. But what they miss is that the S&P 500 is now up slightly since the Fed started raising rates in March 2022 and up 23.5% since the Fed upped its tightening pace last June. Equities are seemingly clearly signaling that rate hikes aren’t bearish. This skepticism is the market’s fuel. The world isn’t without risk, and we are always watching for signs of trouble. Yet today’s often-cited negatives look like more bricks in the wall of worry—too small or well-known to deliver a huge negative shock. Those that could be bigger look quite unlikely to materialize. Meanwhile, global growth, an earnings recovery, and global gridlock give equities plenty of bullish fundamentals to weigh.
Ken Fisher has been extremely optimistic over the past few weeks and months. In his YouTube videos and blogs on his website, the billionaire repeatedly warns against the overly increasing sentiment of fear in the markets. An article on his website recently reminded readers about the regional banking crisis that hit the US markets earlier this year. Everyone was talking about how a major banking crisis was on its way and all the banks would collapse one after another. But that crisis never arrived. The article analyzes the reasons behind the phenomenon and draws a general lesson:
“This is a timeless lesson: Markets move first, before people consciously realize things are better than feared. It happens time and again, both for sectors, industries and countries as well as global stocks overall. We have seen it this year in eurozone and German stocks, which mounted a strong recovery well before economic data showed the extent (thus far) of the winter’s economic downturn—they pre-priced the damage during 2022’s downturn and then looked to the recovery. Now we are seeing it with regional bank stocks. When in doubt, trust the market.”
In another video, posted on August 18 on his YouTube channel, Ken Fisher analyzes how the markets move from pessimism to euphoria. He begins his analysis by quoting Sir John Templeton’s classic line that “bull markets are born on pessimism, rise on skepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria.”
Fisher says that when the current bull market started in last fall, there was a lot of pessimism in the markets, driven by inflation, rate hikes, Russia-Ukraine war and political problems in the US. According to Fisher, people were anticipating a recession and it has not happened so far. It was the longest-anticipated recession in our history and it has given rise to some new dynamics. Fisher believes we are past the ultimate pessimism phase. People no longer fear that “Putin will run over Ukraine” tomorrow. People have seen the rate hikes and they have seen the debt crisis and other political problems in the US. But they are still not in the optimism phase, according to Fisher. Because many predictions were proven wrong when it comes to recession, people have developed what Fisher says “pessimism of disbelief.” He believes people are still looking over their shoulders and analyzing possible scenarios in which recession would hit the economy. Amid the falsification of several predictions they don’t accept most of the analysts’ predictions and see almost everything with skepticism.
Ken Fisher also quoted Benjamin Graham, who said that the market in the short-term is like an election machine, and in the long-run like a weighing machine. Fisher says markets after all are aligned with economy and reality, and they tend to rise in the long-term. That’s why Fisher has been consistently telling investors in his videos to not give too much importance to the fear and hype based on short-term news cycles and instead focus on long-term market catalysts.
Fisher concluded his video with the famous Warren Buffett saying that you should be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy. According to Fisher others right now are not that much greedy and he believes now is the right time for investors to pile into the markets.
Our Methodology
For this article we scanned Ken Fisher’s second quarter of 2023 portfolio and picked 12 stocks in which he opened new positions during the period. The list is ranked in ascending order of Fisher’s stake value in these companies.
Ken Fisher’s 12 New Stock Picks
12. Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)
Ken Fisher’s Stake: $556,000
Kentucky-based chemical company Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) ranks 12th in our list of the new stock picks of Ken Fisher. Fisher’s fund bought a stake worth $556,000 in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the second quarter.
As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, 28 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) as of the end of the second quarter. The biggest stakeholder of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) was Ricky Sandler’s Eminence Capital with a $314 million stake in the company.
Diamond Hill Small Cap Fund made the following comment about Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Our bottom contributors in Q2 included Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) and Cal-Maine Foods. Ashland is a high-quality, specialty ingredients company providing both natural and synthetic ingredients to customers in the pharmaceuticals, home and personal care, and coatings industries. During Q2, Ashland’s customers — primarily distributors — destocked, which in turn led management to lower full-year guidance and pressured shares. However, in our view, destocking tends to exaggerate any end-market weakness, and we anticipate any effects should be transitory and minimally impact the company’s intrinsic value.”
11. Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB)
Ken Fisher’s Stake: $615,000
Energy company Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) is a high-yield dividend stock that made it to Ken Fisher’s portfolio during the second quarter. Fisher’s fund’s new stake in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) is worth just $615,000, paltry when compared to the size of the fund.
A total of 28 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported having stakes in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) as of the end of the second quarter.
10. Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI)
Ken Fisher’s Stake: $671,000
Another banking stock on our list, Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) shares have lost about 44% over the past year. Ken Fisher’s hedge fund bought a $671,000 stake in Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI).
In July Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHBI) posted Q2 results.
GAAP EPS in the period came in at $0.20, missing estimates by $0.11. Revenue in the quarter fell 8.7% year over year to $27.79 million, beating estimates by $3.56 million.
9. Origin Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:OBK)
Ken Fisher’s Stake: $820,000
Louisiana-based regional banking firm Origin Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:OBK) is one of the new stock picks of Ken Fisher. Fisher’s hedge fund bought a stake worth about $820,000 in Origin Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:OBK).
As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, 6 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Origin Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:OBK).
8. QCR Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCRH)
Ken Fisher’s Stake: $836,000
Regional bank holding company QCR Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCRH) is one of the stocks in which Ken Fisher’s hedge fund bought new stakes in. Fisher fund bought a stake worth $836,000 in QCR Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCRH) during the second quarter. QCR Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCRH) is in the limelight these days amid heavy insider buying activity.
As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, 9 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported having stakes in QCR Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCRH). The biggest stakeholder of QCR Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCRH) was Elizabeth Park Capital Management of Fred Cummings which owns a $7 million stake in the company.
7. Sutro Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRO)
Ken Fisher’s Stake: $913,000
California-based biotechnology company Sutro Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRO) ranks 7th in our list of the top new stocks bought by Ken Fisher during the second quarter of 2023. Fisher’s hedge fund bought a $913,000 stake in Sutro Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRO) during the June quarter.
As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, 28 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long Sutro Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRO). The biggest stakeholder of Sutro Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRO) during this period was Aaron Cowen’s Suvretta Capital Management which owns a $27.4 million stake in Sutro Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRO). Earlier in August Sutro Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRO) posted Q2 results. GAAP EPS in the period came in at -$0.64 beating estimates by $0.07. Revenue in the quarter fell 63% year over year to $10.4 million, missing estimates by $3.2 million.
6. Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC)
Ken Fisher’s Stake: $914,000
Wisconsin-based regional bank Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) came on Ken Fisher’s radar as the billionaire’s fund opened a new stake in the company despite the regional banking crisis that was seen earlier in the year. Fisher’s hedge fund bought a $914,000 stake in Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) during the second quarter. Interestingly, Fisher’s was the only hedge fund in our database of 910 funds that had a stake in Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. (NYSE:NIC) as of the end of the June quarter.
Click to continue reading and see Ken Fisher’s 5 New Stock Picks.
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Disclosure: None. Ken Fisher’s 12 New Stock Picks is originally published on Insider Monkey.
