Adam Weiss’ New Hedge Fund Is Betting On Consumer Stocks

#3 Chubb Ltd (NYSE:ACE)

– Shares Owned by Stillwater Investment Management (as of December 31): 157,200

– Value of Holding (as of December 31): $18.37 million

Moving on to Stillwater Investment Management’s third-largest equity holding, Chubb Ltd (NYSE:ACE), the company recently started trading as Chubb Corp under the ticker NYSE:CB after Zurich-based Ace Ltd. completed its acquisition of Chubb Ltd. on January 14. On January 26, Chubb Corp (NYSE:CB) reported its fourth quarter earnings, declaring EPS of $2.38 on revenue of $3.63 billion, well ahead of analysts’ expectations of EPS of $2.26 on revenue of $3.19 billion. Shortly after the earnings release, analysts at Raymond James reiterated their ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock, but lowered their price target on it to $120 from $121. Clint Carlson‘s Carlson Capital raised its stake in the company by 13% to 1.92 million shares during the October-to-December period.

#2 Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

– Shares Owned by Stillwater Investment Management (as of December 31): 318,900

– Value of Holding (as of December 31): $23.3 million

Unlike most other large-caps, Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) remained resilient to the slump in the equity markets in January, ending the month on a flat note. However, its shares have fallen swiftly since the company reported its fourth quarter earnings on February 3 and now trade down by almost 8% year-to-date. Yum reported EPS of $0.68 on revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the EPS of $0.61 and revenue of $4.0 billion that it reported for the same quarter of last year. Speaking at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in December, executives at Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) highlighted that the company will have the potential to deliver 15% annual shareholder returns (inclusive of dividend yield) once the spinoff of its China unit gets completed this year. Third Point LLC sold almost its entire stake in the company during the fourth quarter, bringing it down to 75,300 shares from the more than 5.5 million shares that it held at the end of the previous quarter.

#1 Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

– Shares Owned by Stillwater Investment Management (as of December 31): 453,400

– Value of Holding (as of December 31): $25.58 million

Looking at the performance of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)’s stock since the start of the year, it seems Stillwater Investment Management made a great move by having the company as its top stock pick at the end of December. Whereas the vast majority of stocks have plummeted heavily in the last few weeks, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is actually trading in the green for the year. Interestingly, the company’s fourth quarter results had nothing to do with that performance , because they disappointed on both earnings and revenue. Comcast reported EPS of $0.81 on revenue of $17.73 billion for the quarter, when analysts had projected it to report EPS of $0.82 on revenue of $18.72 billion. In its earnings call following the release of those financial results, Comcast Corporation revealed that it will be a bidder during the FCC’s upcoming wireless spectrum auction and that it added $5 billion to its buyback program. Alex Snow‘s Lansdowne Partners boosted its stake in Comcast Corporation by 5% to 29.35 million shares during the fourth quarter.

Disclosure: None