Warren Buffett is undisputedly the world's best investor. Reportedly starting from humble beginnings as a newspaper delivery boy earning $175 a month, Buffett has amassed an approximate wealth of US$67 billion to make him the third richest person in the world today. Whilst not everyone can be as fortunate as Buffett, one thing which the Oracle from Omaha holds dear and true is to buy stocks when they are under-priced. Although easier said than done, applying Warren Buffett's method of buying during stock market crashes means right now should be the time to buy quality companies.
Market turmoil
Over the last two weeks, sentiment on the ASX has soured due to a combination of local and macroeconomic woes.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) announced a $100 million increase to bad debt provisions, sparking a sell-off in the banking sector last week. The fear was compounded by a breakdown in negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Iran to limit oil output, placing downward pressure on crude oil and sinking oil-related stocks like Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL).
The negativity has caused the S&P/ASX 200 to drop almost 4% in the space of a week, placing pressure on all stocks. With the bulk of bad news being sector specific, here's why I think it's time to buy Ardent Leisure Group (ASX: AAD) and Retail Food Group Limited (ASX: RFG).
Value investing
According to 'Buffettology', "price is what you pay; value is what you get". Every single one of Warren Buffett's investments rely on this adage, given he believes the share market often over-reacts based on sentiment. As a result, Buffett generally becomes most active during market slumps as he sees the most value when share markets sell-off.
Although this means that his investments may get caught amongst the bloodbath in the short term, Buffett's philosophy is that in the long term, those investments will bear the sweetest fruits.
Accordingly, here is why I believe each of the following is a buy at current prices.
Ardent Leisure Group
Ardent Leisure owns and operates leisure and entertainment assets across Australia and the United States. The group owns Dreamworld and WhiteWater World theme parks in Queensland and operates a host of AMF and Kingpin bowling centres throughout Australia.
Recently, Ardent Leisure announced the divestment of its d'Albora Marinas portfolio, which comprises seven high-profile marinas across Victoria and New South Wales. Ardent intends to use the sale proceeds to accelerate its Main Event Family Entertainment operations in the U.S. as well as transition its current AMF and Kingpin bowing centres into multi-attraction entertainment venues. These steps should augur well for future growth, increasing earnings across the group.
Whilst it is possible that a further decline in oil prices could affect Ardent's earnings in the U.S. (given most of its U.S. operations are in oil-rich Texas, hence lower oil prices could impact consumer sentiment in the state), the circa 8% pullback in share price places Ardent on a respectable 6.5% dividend yield which should compensate investors in the interim.
Retail Food Group
Retail Food Group reported a solid first-half of 2016, forecasting underlying full-year profit growth of 20%. The group generated underlying profit growth of 27.1% for the first half, delivering a solid return on equity for shareholders (another one of Buffett's favourite metrics!).
Despite providing a positive trading update, and systematic growth plans for international expansion, recent market sentiment has seen the stock come off its 2016 high of $5.66 (whilst trading on a cum dividend basis). At its current price, the stock trades at an approximate 10% discount to its theoretical ex-dividend price (based on the 2016 high), despite no company specific news affecting it.
Accordingly, if investors look through the noise, they might find that Retail Food Group has some tasty returns on offer.
Foolish takeaway
It is important to remember that there is only one Warren Buffett in the world. The mastermind behind Berkshire Hathaway has created his wealth off well-timed investments and has never let market ructions dissuade his beliefs that top quality, well-run companies will outperform in the long term.
Whilst I can't guarantee that Ardent Leisure and Retail Food Group won't go any lower amidst the current sell-off, each appears to have the fundamentals for sustainable growth. Therefore, the recent pullback in their respective shares prices, in the absence of company specific news, makes them worth a closer look.
