Value investor Mason Hawkins loaded up on General Electric in the second quarter, and also took up a stake in growth name Alphabet. Hawkins’ Southeastern Asset Management, which operates a suite of mutual funds called Longleaf Partners Funds, stepped up its General Electric shares by 12% last quarter, according to InsiderScore. In the three-month period ending June 30, the fund held 3.28 million shares worth $208.5 million. Hawkins also bought a stake in Google-parent Alphabet for the first time since exiting the stock in 2020; the investor bought 1.5 million shares totaling $165.7 million. The firm said it is “finding some interesting new opportunities in fallen growth darlings this year,” according to Q2 fund commentary. The classic value investor built up his stake in General Electric, which underperformed the S & P 500’s 12% decline this year, saying Wall Street is not giving CEO Larry Culp enough credit for the “material improvements” he’s made during his tenure. “The balance sheet today is stronger than it has been in a very long time, and each of the three primary business segments each have strong paths to increasing earnings, regardless of the economic environment,” read commentary from the second quarter, referring to General Electric’s three segments in aviation, healthcare and power. Shares of General Electric are down 19% this year, but they’ve since rebounded 22% in the current quarter after a positive second quarter earnings report Southeastern Asset Management also opened a position in Alphabet, a growth name that earned the value investor “many surprised looks and quite a few questions from clients” when the firm first bought the stock in 2015. At the time, the fund said it liked the search giant’s competitive edge. The firm exited the stock in the third quarter of 2020, after cutting down its holdings in the company for at least four straight quarters. Shares of the Google parent are down 18% this year, and have gained just 9% in the third quarter, underperforming the broader market index. Meanwhile, Southeastern expressed skepticism whether big pharmaceutical and integrated oil companies “can sustain relative outperformance over the longer term.” Hawkins’ Longleaf Partners Fund outperformed for two decades before the Great Financial Crisis, and has underperformed since investors tilted into growth stocks over value stocks, according to mutual fund research Morningstar. Still, Longleaf Partners declined 15.56% in the second quarter, better than the S & P 500 16.10% decline, in a quarter that “saw value continue its relative outperformance of growth,” a possible sign that value stocks may be coming back in vogue , according to the latest Southeastern letter to fund shareholders. Other top holdings in the fund were telecommunications stock Lumen Technologies, toy company Mattel and transportation company FedEx.
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