Mr. Gabelli also things that Navistar International Corp (NYSE:NAV) is a bargain at $28 per share. The investor believes that the company could benefit from consolidation in Europe within the next year. Among all companies mentioned by Mr. Gabelli during the interview, Navistar represents the second-largest holding in GAMCO’s equity portfolio. The fund owns 6.10 million shares of the company, up by 456,300 shares on the quarter; the value of the stake amounts to $204.35 million, which represent 1.06% of the portfolio value. Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn is also bullish on Navistar International Corp (NYSE:NAV), holding 16.27 million shares as of the end of 2014. In 2013, Mr. Icahn and Navistar International Corp (NYSE:NAV) reached an agreement that allowed the investor to hold up to 20% of the company’s stock and nominate two directors to the board.
The manager of GAMCO Investors is also fond of Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE), of which GAMCO holds 5.88 million shares, valued at $120.32 million. Mr. Gabelli considers that Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe “has given the animal spirit to the Japanese.” The investor also highlighted Sony’s virtual reality headset “Morpheus” and the launch of PlayStation 4 as game changers for the company in the near future. Sony is up by 63% over the last 52 weeks, outperforming the consumer electronics industry, which gained around 35% during the same period. Among other funds that we track, Daniel S. Och‘s OZ Management initiated a stake in Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) during the fourth quarter, holding 2.99 million shares. Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) also has laid off 2,000 employees in Asia and Europe in the last six months, a move that was saluted by Mr. Gabelli as an attempt to focus on profits.
Mr. Gabelli also said that he likes Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB) not just because the company has done “a lot of things right,” but also because he considers that the sale of the company is imminent, the main question about the company being “not if but when the family [Redstone] decides to sell.” Therefore, even though Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB) has strong fundamentals, the company is one of Mr. Gabelli’s bets in the Mergers & Acquisitions space. The last 13F filing showed that GAMCO owns both class A and Class B shares of Viacom. The fund reported holding 3.34 million class A shares of Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIA), the $252.10 million stake, amassing 1.31% of the fund’s equity portfolio. Additionally, GAMCO owns 254,600 class B shares of the company, valued at $19.16 million. Warren Buffett is also bullish on Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB), holding around 8.63 million class B shares as of the end of 2014.
Watch Mr. Gabelli’s interview below:
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