Professor Roger Ibbotson’s Top Stock Picks for Q2

Ibbotson’s position in Syntel, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYNT) was also decreased during the first quarter, by 24%. Despite that, the holding moved up into third spot in his equity portfolio from fifth, thanks to the big first quarter performance of the stock, which returned 15.01%. The holding was valued at $2.19 million and was comprised of 42,239 shares. Syntel, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYNT) has given back some of those gains during the second quarter however, following disappointing earnings results on April 23 that sent shares down nearly 15% over the next week. Earnings per share came in a hefty $0.20 below estimates, and the company’s revenue from its banking and insurance services declined year-over-year by 11% and 5% respectively. Another quant fund, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies had the largest position in Syntel, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYNT) among funds in our database, as of the end of 2014.

Alliance Holdings GP, L.P. (NASDAQ:AHGP) is another stock in which Ibbotson and Simons were two of the only investors with positions as of the end of 2014, of those investors we track at Insider Monkey. Ibbotson more than doubled said position, by 104% to 41,283 shares during the first quarter, with a value of $2.13 million. Short-term at least, this is a pick that has not worked out for the quant funds, with Alliance Holdings GP, L.P. (NASDAQ:AHGP) down an even 17% year-to-date, and 25.67% over the past six months. That dip has helped push Alliance Holdings GP, L.P. (NASDAQ:AHGP)’s dividend yield to 7.41% and makes it a very attractive dividend play given that it has increased its dividends for eight straight years.

Lastly we come to Terra Nitrogen Company, L.P. (NYSE:TNH), in which Ibbotson and Simons were again two of the only investors in our database with positions at the end of 2014 (there was only one other, and it owned a mere 300 shares). Ibbotson wisely increased his holding in Terra Nitrogen by 81% during the first quarter, to 13,330 shares with a value of $1.94 million. In this case the quant funds had it right and everyone else missed out on something their analysis saw, as Terra Nitrogen Company, L.P. (NYSE:TNH) has jumped over 41% year-to-date (and still boasts a dividend yield of 7.15%). Terra Nitrogen Company, L.P. (NYSE:TNH) releases its first quarter earnings results after the closing of the markets later today.

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