Buffett's Berkshire turns into `mediocracy' versus S&P 500

Warren Buffett is going through “the worst patch” of his investing career, Jim Bianco, president and founder of Bianco Research LLC, wrote Wednesday in a Twitter post. Bianco cited a total-return ratio, including dividends, between Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and the S&P 500 Index. The ratio closed Tuesday at its lowest level since November 2001 after dropping 23% from this year’s high, set March 16, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The current reading was first reached in 1995, as cited by Bianco, who wrote that “Berkshire has turned into a mediocracy” for the past 25 years.

Buffett faces unusual burden as Berkshire shares stumble

Warren Buffett was saddled with an unusual burden after his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., held its annual meeting last weekend. Berkshire’s Class A stock fell to a six-year low relative to the S&P 500 Index on Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The shares hadn’t been so weak in relative terms since 2000, according to Bespoke Investment Group LLC, which cited the Berkshire-S&P 500 ratio in a blog post Monday. The ratio set another low Tuesday, when it was down 18% from a high on March 16.

Buffett's Berkshire trails S&P 500 by avoiding dividends

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s unwillingness to pay dividends has meant shareholders would have been better off with the S&P 500 Index during the past decade. A total-return version of the S&P 500 climbed 405 percent from the index’s March 2009 low through Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Berkshire’s Class B shares, which are included in the index, rose 344 percent over the same period. Meanwhile, Warren Buffett’s company beat the S&P 500’s gain of 310 percent measured before payouts.

 

Buffett ‘myth’ questioned as Berkshire trails S&P 500

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s stock performance in the past decade belies a “perpetuated myth” that billionaire investor Warren Buffett is beating the market as he did before, according to Drew Dickson, chief investment officer and managing partner at Albert Bridge Capital LLP in London. Dickson compared Berkshire and the S&P 500 Index on a total-return basis -- including dividends, which the company hasn’t paid for half a century. While Class A shares of Buffett’s company rose 126 percent from the start of March 2008 through Monday, the S&P 500 returned 159 percent.