In third place is KAR Auction Services Inc (NYSE:KAR), which had eight billionaires with $606.01 million invested in it. Among them are Daniel Och and Leon Copperman, who own 3.48 million and 3.38 million shares respectively. KAR conducts auction services for both used and salvaged vehicles, and also boasts insurance and financing arms.
KAR Auction Services Inc (NYSE:KAR) has enjoyed a strong three-year run, with shares nearly tripling in value from the beginning of 2012 to present. A dip in early October to its 52-week low of $26.44 may have provided the perfect opportunity for bullish billionaires to make large additions to their portfolios, as many did during the fourth quarter, including Steve Cohen with 2.78 million shares, a 2,157% increase, Israel Englander with 1.77 million shares, an 828% increase, and Ken Griffin with 1.69 million shares, a 196% increase. KAR is up 39.98% since October 14.
Landing in second position, with nine billionaire investors is Ashland Inc (NYSE:ASH), one of the top picks of billionaire Barry Rosenstein, who held 5.85 million shares at the end of the year. Those shares, valued at $701 million, accounted for a majority of the capital invested in the company from billionaires, who sank $1.01 billion of capital into it. Leon Cooperman, Steve Cohen, and Jim Simons were other billionaire shareholders.
Ashland Inc (NYSE:ASH), which is involved in the chemical solutions business across a variety of sectors, announced a new quarterly dividend of $0.34 at the end of January, with a dividend yield of 1.10%. Shares appreciated over 8% in the days following that announcement, and are up 7.08% year-to-date after a strong 2014 during which shares rose 23.4%.
Last, but certainly not least (in fact it’s the best) is Mohawk Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MHK), which had 10 billionaires invested in it at the dawn of 2015. The most bullish among them was Andreas Halvorsen with 3.95 million shares, which he increased slightly to 4.04 million in early January, though we reported on it as a decrease at the time, owing to the fact that he had last reported ownership of 5.68 million shares at the end of the third quarter. Stephen Mandel, Larry Robbins, and Daniel Och were three other prominent investors in Mohawk.
Investors of this company have enjoyed quite a ride up the mountain aboard this stock since the beginning of 2012, with it more than tripling in value. Nor does it appear the summit has yet been reached, as it only continues to grow: another 14.26% in the fourth quarter of 2014, and 19.41% thus far in 2015. The global flooring supplier deals in everything from rugs and carpets, to wood and laminate flooring, to stone and vinyl flooring. The company recently announced record adjusted net earnings of $167 million for the fourth quarter of 2014, with adjusted earnings per share coming in at $2.27.
Disclosure: None
