Top-Performing Energy Stocks Picked by Funds

Cambiar Aggressive Value Investor Fund (CAMAX) is the fourth-best performing mutual fund this year, with a 15.9% return through March 22. It is up 75% over the past year.

It differentiates itself from the other top-performing funds this year by being one of the few with a portfolio that includes some stocks other than energy in its 10 largest holdings.

The fund also carries a five-star rating from Morningstar, which underscores the quality of its management.

The $285 million fund's top holdings include U.S. Steel (X), a new position and second-largest in the portfolio at 6% (it's shares are down 7% this year); contract electronics manufacturer Flextronics International (FLEX), down 6.6% this year; and aircraft and railroad car builder Bombardier Subordinate Voting Shares (BBD.B), up 29%.

Archer-Daniels Midland (ADM) is the fourth-largest stock in the fund, at 5.4%, and its 21% return this year has given Cambiar Aggressive Value a big boost.

The company is one of the world's largest processors of agricultural commodities, including oilseed, corn, cocoa and wheat. It is also a leading manufacturer of vegetable oil and corn sweeteners, flour and animal feed, as well as ethanol, used as a supplement in gas.

ADM has benefited from skyrocketing commodities prices, which is being fed by tight global supplies. In February, the company reported that its fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 29%, slightly slower than revenue.

Standard & Poor's has a "hold" recommendation on its shares and gives it a three-star rating out of a possible five.

Analysts that follow the company give it five "buy" ratings, five "buy/holds" and three "holds," according to S&P. For fiscal 2011, those same analysts estimate that ADM will earn $3.34 per share and that will grow 4% to $3.48 in 2012.

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