Wells Fargo shares were already suffering from the scourge of low rates prior to the recently revealed account creation scandal. William Smead, portfolio manager of the Smead Value Fund , said the bank will bounce back from this one-two punch. ‘Even great companies stumble once in a while and they are quickly making amends to move past this as quickly as possible,’ said Smead. Shares of Wells Fargo are down 13% year-to-date. Wells Fargo said Tuesday it would end the retail-bank sales targets that regulators say helped motivate thousands of employees to illegally open unauthorized customer accounts to meet performance goals. The Smead Value Fund is down 1.4% thus far in 2016, according to Morningstar. The $1.2 billion fund has returned an average of 8.4% annually over the past three years, putting it the 59th percentile in Morningstar’s large blend category. Berkshire Hathaway is a major holder of Wells Fargo shares and it is another one of Smead’s top picks. Shares of Warren Buffett’s investment vehicle are up 11% thus far in 2016, outperforming the 4% rise in the S&P 500. Smead believes that Berkshire will expand its lead over the index as the economy improves and interest rates finally tick up. ‘Buffett is leveraged to the U.S. economy and will do well in a housing boom,’ said Smead. ‘He does not do well in a muted environment.’ Disney , down 12% year-to-date, is another one of Smead’s favorite stocks despite recent worries about the so-called Mouse House’s ESPN division losing subscribers. In Smead’s view, the ESPN problems are overblown, and increased consumer spending will increase profits at the company. ‘We are in a baby boom among 30 to 45 years old women and a five-year old person boom for the next decade. Disney is the largest baby-sitting organization in the world for five year old kids – a well as 35 year old men with ESPN,’ said Smead. Finally, Smead is a fan of Gannett , despite the media giant’s shares sinking over 28% this year due to its troubles completing the Tronc acquisition. ‘Gannett is attempting to aggregate a national newspaper chain under the USA Today Network and that will power Facebook and Twitter’s newsfeeds,’ said Smead.
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