2015 ends within 10 days!
Time to review our performance. How did we fare until today?
Our blog follows 2 stocks which in 2015 went exactly in opposite directions.
Markel Corp. (NYSE: MKL) our insurance and investment champion presented good results and performed 27% over the year until today, by far outperforming the S&P 500.
Colfax (NYSE: CFX) unfortunately did the exact opposite: Colfax lost 57% until today…. ouch!
And this performance followed an already negative performance of – 19% last year … two times ouch!
It is difficult to blame management. Colfax operates in the heavy industry sector and has a strong relation to the oil sector which itself sails through a cyclical downturn of enormous proportions.
Colfax thinks the downturn of the industry will continue until 2017.
Management reacts by restructuring, lowering costs, improving performance and in addition the board has approved a share repurchase program of $ 100M.
Colfax stock trades at a p/e of 15 which means that the market values Colfax as a general industry stock with only modest growth perspectives. But if Colfax can reassume once again its superior growth path by acquisitions and by strictly applying the CBS-tools this valuation could prove too conservative and the stock will go up again.
Patient investors could bet on this and slowly start a position going into 2016!
To all our readers a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2016!