Bed Bath & Beyond’s (BBBY) margins are being squeezed due to increased spending on omnichannel initiatives. Nevertheless, the company will soon return to its consistent ways and its shares will rebound, said Mark DeVaul, portfolio manager for the Hennessy Equity and Income Fund. ‘One of the things that attracted us last year to the firm, outside of the consistency of the business, was a change in management’s use of the company’s balance sheet,’ said DeVaul. ‘They were going out and raising debt and using the low cost debt proceeds to buy back their stock in a process we call balance sheet optimization. We think that’s a great way to create shareholder value.’ Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond have fallen 15% year-to-date. The Hennessy Equity and Income Fund is flat year-to-date but has returned 6.3% in the past year, according to fund-tracker Morningstar. The fund is outperforming 84% of its Morningstar peers in the moderate allocation category. DeVaul is also bullish on shares of Deere & Company, up 5% so far in 2015, despite the drop in agricultural prices that is pressuring farmers to buy less equipment. He said the company’s high return on capital and shareholder friendly management team bodes well for the stock even as corn and soy beans prices remain depressed.
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