Editor’s Note: Related tickers: General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX), The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)
Advanced Investment Partners is an investment management firm focused on active U.S. equity strategies, featuring a comprehensive investment procedure with consistent risk management. Douglas William Case, along with his partners, founded Advanced Investment Partners in 1996. Since then, Case has served as the hedge fund’s President, CIO and manager. He uses an elaborate system of quantitative analyses and benchmarks to track the success of the fund. Mr. Case also supports socially responsible investing, meaning that he often selects stocks based on their environmental, social and governance policies.
The top of the heap
According to the 13F, the fund held 736,644 shares of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) during the first quarter of 2013—its largest holding. The amount of shares fell by 47,562 units when compared with the prior quarter’s 13F. Despite this decrease, the value of the holding climbed by 3.57% to $17.047 million. General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) has a trailing P/E ratio of 16.01, below the industry mean of 18.09. A forward earnings multiple near 12 signals that Mr. Market may be undervaluing the automaker’s growth prospects. The company has a profit margin of 10.35% and a trailing EPS of $1.43, with a forward estimate for the next quarter of $0.36. The stock’s beta is 1.67, while analysts have a mean recommendation of 2.1 (Hold) for the stock.
Advanced Investment Partners also holds shares of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), buying an additional 325,968 shares during the quarter, bringing the fund’s total holding to 566,138, as reported in the 13F. The value of the holding rose by 171.23% to an impressive $16.336 million in the first quarter. The stock itself trades at a trailing P/E ratio of 20.37 (close to its industry average), and has the fifth lowest forward P/E ratio in its sector at 12.22. With an 18.32% profit margin, a beta of 0.76, and a trailing EPS of $1.41, the stock receives a mean recommendation of 2.0 from analysts.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and the best of the rest
Next is tech giant Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), with the 13F stating that the fund holds a position of 36,312 shares. Advanced Investment Partners’ holding fell by 7,593 shares in comparison with the prior quarter, with the value of the stake falling 31.65% to $15.969 million. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) trades at a trailing P/E ratio of 10.81 and a forward P/E of 10.28. The Cupertino-based company has an expected forward annual dividend rate of $12.20 and a forward yield of 2.60%, with 11.30% year-over-year quarterly revenue growth. The stock’s beta is 0.65, and analysts predict the company to generate EPS growth of 19-20% a year over the next half-decade—slowing growth, but certainly no slouch.
Next is Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX), as the 13F showed the fund reported a stake of 224,856 shares, falling by 58,518 shares from the fourth quarter. The value of the holding, in addition, decreased slightly by 4.56% to $12.936 million. Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX)’s trailing P/E of 18.81 is above the sector average, but the stock still exhibits the second lowest forward P/E ratio of its peers at 14.27.
Last but certainly not least, The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) rounds out this top five, and as the 13F stated, the fund holds 172,144 shares, a slight decrease from the fourth quarter of 2012. In terms of value, the home improvement retailer’s stock saw the dollar-size of its position fall by 3.59% in Q1 to $11.995 million. Shares trade at a trailing P/E of 25.25, and a forward earnings multiple of 18.45 is somewhat attractive from a value standpoint, as it’s the second lowest mark in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s industry. Analysts have a mean recommendation of 2.20 (Hold) for the stock, so we’ll continue to watch it closely.
Final thoughts
This is just one of the funds required to submit a 13F form at the end of the first quarter, and individual investors can benefit from specific strategies if they know where to look; see what we mean. See the original 13F here.
Disclosure: none
