CENTRAL SECURITIES CORPORATION
STATEMENT OF INVESTMENTS
March 31, 2024
(unaudited)
| Shares | Value | |||||
| COMMON STOCKS 92.8% | ||||||
| Banks 2.8% | ||||||
| 200,000 | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | $ | 40,060,000 | |||
| Communications Services 8.1% | ||||||
| 450,000 | Alphabet Inc. Class A (a) | 67,918,500 | ||||
| 100,000 | Meta Platforms, Inc. Class A | 48,558,000 | ||||
| 116,476,500 | ||||||
| Diversified Financial 11.0% | ||||||
| 200,000 | American Express Company | 45,538,000 | ||||
| 300,000 | Capital One Financial Corporation | 44,667,000 | ||||
| 700,000 | The Charles Schwab Corporation | 50,638,000 | ||||
| 65,000 | Visa Inc. Class A | 18,140,200 | ||||
| 158,983,200 | ||||||
| Diversified Industrial 3.8% | ||||||
| 350,000 | AerCap Holdings N.V. (a) | 30,418,500 | ||||
| 45,000 | Ashtead Group plc ADR | 13,076,550 | ||||
| 200,000 | Brady Corporation Class A | 11,856,000 | ||||
| 55,351,050 | ||||||
| Energy 3.3% | ||||||
| 310,000 | Hess Corporation | 47,318,400 | ||||
| Health Care 4.6% | ||||||
| 90,000 | Johnson & Johnson | 14,237,100 | ||||
| 185,000 | Medtronic plc | 16,122,750 | ||||
| 200,000 | Merck & Co., Inc. | 26,390,000 | ||||
| 300,000 | Roche Holding AG ADR | 9,576,000 | ||||
| 66,325,850 | ||||||
| Insurance Brokers 3.5% | ||||||
| 150,000 | Aon plc Class A | 50,058,000 | ||||
| Insurance Underwriters 28.9% | ||||||
| 28,424 | The Plymouth Rock Company Class A (b)(c) | 326,876,000 | ||||
| 435,000 | Progressive Corporation | 89,966,700 | ||||
| 416,842,700 | ||||||
| Real Estate 2.3% | ||||||
| 1,000,000 | Rayonier Inc. | 33,240,000 | ||||
| Shares | Value | ||||||
| Retailing 4.2% | |||||||
| 225,000 | Amazon.com, Inc. (a) | $ | 40,585,500 | ||||
| 13,000 | Mercadolibre, Inc. (a) | 19,655,480 | |||||
| 60,240,980 | |||||||
| Semiconductor 7.0% | |||||||
| 400,000 | Analog Devices, Inc. | 79,116,000 | |||||
| 400,000 | Intel Corporation | 17,668,000 | |||||
| 170,000 | Wolfspeed, Inc., Inc. (a) | 5,015,000 | |||||
| 101,799,000 | |||||||
| Software and Services 4.4% | |||||||
| 80,000 | Microsoft Corporation | 33,657,600 | |||||
| 54,000 | Roper Technologies, Inc. | 30,285,360 | |||||
| 63,942,960 | |||||||
| Technology Hardware and Equipment 8.9% | |||||||
| 400,000 | Coherent Corp. (a) | 24,248,000 | |||||
| 200,000 | Keysight Technologies, Inc. (a) | 31,276,000 | |||||
| 150,000 | Motorola Solutions, Inc. | 53,247,000 | |||||
| 47.836 | Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (a) | 20,536,952 | |||||
| 129,307,952 | |||||||
| Total Common Stocks (cost $397,660,452) | $ | 1,339,946,592 | |||||
| SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS 7.1% | |||||||
| Money Market Fund 1.5% | |||||||
| 21,995,189 | Fidelity Investments Money Market Fund | ||||||
| Treasury Only Portfolio Class I | 21,995,189 | ||||||
| Principal | U.S. Treasury Bills 5.6% | ||||||
| $ 80,000,000 | U.S. Treasury Bills 5.364% - 5.371% due 4/9/24 - 4/25/24 (d) | 79,801,517 | |||||
| Total Short-Term Investments (cost $101,796,706) | 101,796,706 | ||||||
| Total Investments (cost $499,457,158) (99.9%) | 1,441,743,298 | ||||||
| Cash, receivables and other assets less liabilities (0.1%) | 1,943,843 | ||||||
| Net Assets (100%) | $ | 1,443,687,141 | |||||
| (a) Non-dividend paying. | |
| (b) Affiliate as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 and restricted. See Note 3 and Note 4. | |
| (c) Valued based on Level 3 inputs. See Note 2. | |
| (d) Valued based on Level 2 inputs. See Note 2. | |
See accompanying notes to statement of investments.
CENTRAL SECURITIES CORPORATION
(the “Corporation”)
NOTES TO STATEMENT OF INVESTMENTS
(unaudited)
1. Security Valuation – Marketable common stocks are valued at the last or closing sale price or, if unavailable, at the closing bid price. Investments in money market funds are valued at net asset value per share. Other short-term investments are valued at amortized cost, which approximates fair value. Securities for which no ready market exists are valued at estimated fair value pursuant to procedures adopted by the Board of Directors. The determination of fair value involves subjective judgments. As a result, using fair value to price a security may result in a price materially different from the price used by other investors or the price that may be realized upon the actual sale of the security.
As of March 31, 2024, the tax cost of investments was $499,457,158. Net unrealized appreciation was $942,286,140 consisting of gross unrealized appreciation and gross unrealized depreciation of $946,486,425 and $4,200,285, respectively.
2. Fair Value Measurements – The Corporation’s investments are categorized below in three broad hierarchical levels based on market price observability as follows:
| · | Level 1 – Quoted prices in active markets for identical investments; |
| · | Level 2 – Other significant observable inputs obtained from independent sources, for example, quoted prices in active markets for similar investments; |
| · | Level 3 – Significant unobservable inputs including the Corporation’s own assumptions based upon the best information available. The Corporation’s only Level 3 investment is The Plymouth Rock Company Class A Common Stock (“Plymouth Rock”). |
The designated Level for a security is not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in that security.
The Corporation’s investments as of March 31, 2024 are classified as follows:
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | |||||||||||||
| Common stocks | $ | 1,013,070,592 | — | $ | 326,876,000 | $ | 1,339,946,592 | |||||||||
| Short-term investments | 21,995,189 | 79,801,517 | — | 101,796,706 | ||||||||||||
| Total investments | $ | 1,035,065,781 | $ | 79,801,517 | $ | 326,876,000 | $ | 1,441,743,298 | ||||||||
The following is a reconciliation of the change in the value of Level 3 investments:
| Balance at December 31, 2023 | $ | 304,136,800 | ||
| Change in net unrealized appreciation of investments in affiliated companies included in net increase in net assets resulting from operations | 22,739,200 | |||
| Balance at March 31, 2024 | $ | 326,876,000 |
Unrealized appreciation of Level 3 investments held as of March 31, 2024 increased during the three months ended March 31, 2024 by $22,739,200, which is included in the above table.
Management assists the Board of Directors in the determination of fair value of Plymouth Rock. In valuing the Plymouth Rock Level 3 investment as of March 31, 2024, management considered Plymouth Rock’s financial condition and results of operations, the insurance industry outlook, and any transactions in Plymouth Rock’s shares. Management used significant unobservable inputs to develop a range of values for the investment. It used a comparable company approach that utilized the following valuation multiples from selected publicly traded companies: price-to-book value (range: 1.0–2.7; average: 1.7); price-to-historical earnings (range: 18.2–46.4; average: 30.3); and price-to-forward earnings estimates (range: 12.1–24.9; average: 18.0). Management also used Plymouth Rock’s book value and a discounted cash flow model based on a forecasted return on equity of approximately 11% and a cost of capital of approximately 12%. The average of these values was then discounted for lack of marketability and control of the Plymouth Rock shares. Management considered a discount range of 25% to 35%, a range management believes market participants would apply. An independent valuation of Plymouth Rock’s shares obtained by Plymouth Rock was also considered. Management presented and discussed the above information with the Corporation’s directors, who determined the value for the investment.
Increases (decreases) in the price-to-book value multiple, price-to-historical earnings multiple, price-to-forward earnings estimate multiple, return on equity rate and book value in isolation would have resulted in a higher (lower) range of fair values. Increases (decreases) in the discount for lack of marketability and control or cost of capital in isolation would have resulted in a lower (higher) range of fair values.
3. Restricted Securities - The Corporation may from time to time invest in securities the resale of which is restricted. On March 31, 2024, the Corporation’s only restricted security consisted of 28,424 shares of Plymouth Rock that were acquired on December 15, 1982 at a cost of $710,600. This security had a value of $326,876,000 at March 31, 2024, which was equal to 22.6% of the Corporation’s net assets. The Corporation does not have the right to demand registration of this security.
4. Affiliated Companies – Plymouth Rock is an affiliated company as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 due to the Corporation’s ownership of 5% or more of the company’s outstanding voting securities. During the three months ended March 31, 2024, unrealized appreciation from the Corporation’s investment in Plymouth Rock increased by $22,739,200 and the Corporation received dividends of $5,477,589 from Plymouth Rock. The Chairman of the Corporation is a director of Plymouth Rock. The Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation is a director of certain subsidiaries of Plymouth Rock.
