Greenhaven Associates Bearing With Top Picks Following Lackluster First Half of 2015

On the other hand, the investor’s stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) was cut more significantly, by some 663,880 shares to 10.12 million shares, worth nearly $678 million. Meanwhile, the stock declined by around 10% during the April-June period on the back of disappointing financial results. The company posted revenue of $14.13 billion and EPS of $0.70 for the first quarter of 2015, slightly higher than $13.40 billion and $0.61 a year earlier. For the second quarter, analysts expect Lowe’s to deliver EPS of $1.25, versus $1.04 posted a year ago. During the first quarter, Stephen Mandel‘s Lone Pine Capital initiated a stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by acquiring over 5.9 million shares.

Greenhaven Associates inched up its stake in its Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) by a paltry 20,350 shares to almost 3.15 million shares valued at $657.5 million. Shares of the investment banking behemoth rose 11% during the April – June quarter. The firm recently declared its second-quarter earnings and owing to  extremely high litigation costs declared an EPS of only $1.98, much lower than analysts’ estimates $3.89. The high legal fees being paid by Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) have raised concerns among analysts some of whom fear whether the company is concealing something important from investors. Of the 28 major analysts and brokerage houses that cover the stock, 21 of them have a ‘Hold’ rating with an average price target of $212.52. Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway held over 12.6 million shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) at the end of March.

 Disclosure: None