Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (VOD), Tate & Lyle PLC (TATE): Neil Woodford’s Latest Buys and Sells

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Invesco Perpetual, as a group, now owns more than 15% of G4S plc (LON:GFS). Interestingly, renowned U.S. value investors Tweedy, Browne have also been attracted to the 3.5 billion-pound security firm, holding 5% of the shares, and another notable U.S. value outfit, Harris Associates, is a 5% holder, too.

You can pick G4S plc (LON:GFS)’ shares up today for 247 pence — close to their 52-week low and at a 5% discount to Woodford’s average buy price. The company is on a forecast current-year price-to-earnings ratio of 11.5, falling to little more than 10 next year. Analysts put the dividend income on offer this year at 3.9%.

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AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (LSE:AZN) and GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (LSE:GSK), the U.K.’s two pharmaceuticals giants, have been the largest holdings of Woodford’s funds for a considerable time.

Over the year, Woodford further bulked up the number of shares his Income fund holds in both companies, investing a net 96 million pounds in AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (LSE:AZN) and 78 million pounds in GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (LSE:GSK). According to my sums, Woodford paid an average per-share price of 2,918 pence for Astra and 1,434 pence for GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (LSE:GSK).

AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (LSE:AZN)’s shares are now trading at 3,388 pence (up 16% on Woodford’s average buy price), putting the company on a forward P/E of 10 and a dividend yield of 5.3%. GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (LSE:GSK)’s shares are changing hands for 1,713 pence (up 19%), giving a forward P/E of 14.5 and a yield of 4.5%.

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Woodford has been generally cool on utilities for the last year or two, but has added 15 million shares to an existing 77 million holding in Centrica PLC (LON:CNA), the owner of British Gas and other energy businesses.

My calculations say Woodford invested about 53 million pounds at 356 pence per share. The shares are 7% higher at 380 pence today, trading on a forecast P/E of 13.5 and offering a prospective dividend income of 4.5%.

Woodford winners exclusive
Woodford may not get every share call right — that’s impossible, even for him — but what he has is a philosophy and strategy that have enabled him to build an extraordinary long-term performance record.

The article Neil Woodford’s Latest Buys and Sells originally appeared on Fool.com is written by G. A. Chester.

G.A. Chester does not own any shares mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool recommends GlaxoSmithKline and Vodafone Group (LSE:VOD).

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