(The Associated Press circulated the following by Timberly Ross on January 24.)
OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett’s company is adding to its stake in Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the nation’s second-largest railroad.
The billionaire’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. now owns 18.2 percent of the railroad after buying 10,300 more shares on Tuesday, according to documents filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The stake grew from 17.8 percent listed in an SEC filing last week.
Berkshire reported purchases of BNSF stock five times this month, and the Omaha-based holding company now owns nearly 63.8 million shares in the Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad.
The latest filing says Berkshire paid $75.51 each for the BNSF shares.
BNSF’s shares rose $2.43 cents, or 3 percent, to $82.10 on Thursday.
All of Berkshire’s BNSF stock is held by National Indemnity Co., which is one of Berkshire’s insurance subsidiaries. Because the purchases have been made by Berkshire subsidiaries, it’s not clear whether Buffett himself made the decision to buy.
Berkshire officials do not typically comment on the company’s stock holdings.
However, Buffett and Berkshire vice chairman Charlie Munger discussed their interest in railroads at last year’s annual meeting. They said railroads have become an attractive investment because they are healthier today than in past years, something Buffett and Munger said they were slow to realize because of the industry’s past poor performance.
Last year Berkshire also invested in Norfolk Southern Corp. and Union Pacific Corp., but reduced its holdings in those two railroads in the second half of 2007.
Berkshire owns furniture, insurance, jewelry and candy companies, restaurants, natural gas and corporate jet firms and has major investments in such companies as The Coca-Cola Co. and Wells Fargo & Co.