Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (PINK:FRFHF) (TSE:FFH), the investment management firm headed by Prem Watsa who is widely known as the “Warren Buffet of Canada” owns 43 stocks with an estimated market value of more than $2.4 billion, based on its 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the fourth quarter of 2012.
During the quarter, Watsa bought four new stocks including Hewlett Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) 20,400 shares, Teavana Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:TEA) 53,100 shares, AuRico Gold Inc (NYSE:AUQ) 23,600 shares, and Ultra Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:UPL) 15,900 shares.
Watsa significantly increased its position in EXCO Resources Inc (NYSE:XCO) from 659,000 shares to 10,692, 200 shares, an increase of 1,519%. The stock accounts for 2.81 percent of his portfolio. He also boosted his stake in SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD) by 645% or 28,109,200 shares, which represent 7.40 % in his portfolio. His total stake in the company is 32,463,200 shares.
Last November, Watsa praised the management of SandRidge Energy for implementing a shareholder rights plan after two of its major shareholders demanded the sale of the company. He believes SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD) CEO, Tom Ward, is one of the “best operators” in the energy industry, and he is confident that the company is “poised to do well in the long-term.” On the other hand, TPG-Axon strongly criticized Ward and alleged that he actively competed against SandRidge Energy and inappropriately acquired mineral rights from third parties and then leased those rights to the company. TPG-Axon demanded the board of directors of the company to investigate Ward’s transactions.
Watsa also increased stockholdings in Resolute Forest Products Inc (NYSE:RFP) by more than 30% or 5,797, 729 shares to 24,776, 519 shares. The stock accounts 3.18% in his portfolio. He also bought an additional 20,000 shares of Nexen Inc. (USA) (NYSE:NXY), 9,000 shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. ( NYSE:BRK.B), and 4,000 shares of Patterson UTI-Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN).
During the quarter, Watsa reduced his stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 5,700 shares, U.S., Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 6,700 shares, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 7,000 shares and Frontier Communications Corp (NASDAQ:FTR) by 2.6 million shares.
He sold its entire stakes in Fushi Copperweld, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSIN), Mohawk Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MHK), Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO), and NewMarket Corporation (NYSE:NEU).
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (PINK:FRFHF) (TSE:FFH) is one of the largest shareholder of Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB). The firm owns 51,854,700 shares or 9.9 percent stake in the Canadian smartphone manufacturer. Many believe his investment in the company is paying off since he purchased his shares in Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) at around $6 to $8 per share (although bought many shares at a higher price). The stock is currently trading around $15 a share as of this writing.
