Polaris Capital Management Remains Bullish On Top Picks, Increasing Stake In Top 3

Moving on to Polaris Capital Management’s second-largest holding, Infosys Ltd ADR (NYSE:INFY), the fund acquired an additional 165,600 shares of the company during the second quarter, holding over 5.6 million shares worth $88.81 million as of June 30. Shares of the India-based information technology services provider tumbled by 8.3% during the second quarter, with the majority of that decline coming after the company announced dismal fiscal 2014 fourth quarter results on April 24. On July 21, the company reported better than expected numbers for the fiscal first quarter of 2015. While revenue of $2.16 billion was above the $2.14 billion that analysts were expecting, EPS of $0.21 came in line with analysts’ estimates. On July 24, analysts at Macquarie upgraded their rating on the stock to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’. Among the hedge funds we track, Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management was the largest shareholder of Infosys Ltd ADR (NYSE:INFY) at the end of March, owning over 18 million shares of the company, a position which it added another 3.55 million shares to in the second quarter.

BHP Billiton plc (ADR)(NYSE:BBL) represented the stock in which Polaris Capital Management increased its stake by the greatest magnitude during the second quarter. The fund increased its stake in the company by 28%, bringing its total holding in the stock to 1.84 million shares worth $73.05 million as of June 30. Shares of the mining giant have dropped significantly since last year, and lost more than 10.6% in the second quarter alone, due to the slump in metal and oil prices and the slowdown of the Chinese economy, which is a major market for the commodities the company mines. BHP Billiton plc (ADR)(NYSE:BBL) reported last month that it will be booking a $2.1 billion earnings charge on account of the restructuring it did by spinning off its unwanted assets into a separate trading entity, South 32.  On June 8 analysts at RBC Capital reiterated their ‘Underperform’ rating on BHP Billiton plc (ADR)(NYSE:BBL)’s stock and on July 7, analysts at Deutsche Bank reiterated their ‘Hold’ rating on the stock. Ken Griffin‘s Citadel Investment Group increased its stake by 475% to 157,563 shares of the company during the first quarter.

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