Bill Ackman Puts 18% of Assets into Procter & Gamble

A noted activist investor, Bill Ackman, announced his latest stock pick yesterday at CNBC's Delivering Alpha Conference. Ackman, who is well-known for being actively involved in the current J.C. Penney

turnaround process,

. In the CNBC interview, Ackman said that “We're going to take a hard look to see if we can add any value to Proctor & Gamble. [sic]” Pershing Square's stake in Procter & Gamble is very sizeable, as it makes up about 18% of the firm's assets under management. However, Ackman is not concerned about this and states that it is very hard to lose money in Procter & Gamble at the current price levels. He also noted that Pershing Square acquired the shares at a lower price than they are currently trading. The shares of Procter & Gamble have risen nearly 10% from its lows of the year in the past 3 weeks. The stock recently broke back above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which are key technical levels. Procter & Gamble is expected to report its Q4 and full-year earnings on August 3 and strong numbers could further extend the recent rally. Bill Ackman's interest in Procter & Gamble could indicate that its peers might be profitable picks as well. For example, Colgate-Palmolive

, which is up 14% on the year, could continue its strong performance. On the other hand, traders who want to get exposure to the entire consumer staples sector might want to take a look at Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF

.