CBOE Holdings, Inc (CBOE), The Wendy’s Co (WEN) & More: Horizon Asset Management’s Small Cap Picks

The fund was a heavy buyer of The Wendy’s Co (NYSE:WEN), closing 2012 with a total of almost 13 million shares of the quick service restaurant. The Wendy’s Co (NYSE:WEN) stock price is high in terms of its trailing earnings, though it reported 9 cents in EPS in the fourth quarter of 2012 and annualizing that figure would give it a P/E multiple of 15. That is a discount to where some other QSRs trade, though of course buying the stock based on one quarter’s good results might not be wise. Billionaire Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners is a major shareholder in The Wendy’s Co (NYSE:WEN) (see more stocks Peltz likes).

Horizon had 2.4 million shares of Brookfield Residential Properties Inc (NYSE:BRP) in its portfolio at the beginning of this year. Brookfield Residential Properties Inc (NYSE:BRP) is another real estate developer, with a focus (obviously) on residential communities and buildings. It roughly doubled both its revenue and net earnings in its last quarterly report compared to the fourth quarter of 2011, and the stock price has reacted by rising a similar amount. The earnings multiples are high here as well- the trailing and forward P/Es are 26 and 18, respectively- though recent growth rates have been high enough that the company might be worth a look.

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.