Warren Buffett got to be one of the world’s richest people by investing in companies with smart management, strong brands and a durable competitive advantage. The chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway is now sitting on $90 billion in cash that he wants to invest in stocks at a reasonable value.
Berkshire owns about four dozen stocks, nine of which have added $20 billion to his company’s wealth in the past year. Some of the companies didn’t have the highest gains, but they pay steady dividends to put in the bank, according to Fool.com
Below are the stocks that posted the biggest gains for Buffett. That’s not to say they all beat the market. Coca-Cola has lost its fizz as consumers become more conscientious about healthy eating habits. But Buffett owns 400 million shares of the beverage maker. The 1.5 percent gain in Coke and dividends netted Berkshire $832 million in the past year.
Bank stocks performed well, at least for a while after Republican Donald Trump was elected president on a pro-business platform. Investors piled into the stocks with the hope that less banking regulation would drive profits. Those gains started to disappear as the Trump agenda appeared threatened by multiple investigations into connections between his campaign and Russia.
Company (Ticker) Total Return
- Bank of America (BAC) $6.1B
- Kraft Heinz (KHC) $3.5B
- Wells Fargo (WFC) $2.6B
- American Express (AXP) $2.1B
- Charter Communications (CHTR) $951M
- U.S. Bancorp (USB) $903M
- Coca-Cola (KO) $832M
- Goldman Sachs (GS) $754M
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