Brickwood’s $19M Leap into Dentsply Sirona: Should You Follow?

In a world spinning on the cold axis of greed and neglect, Brickwood Asset Management decided to buy a larger slice of XRAY – Dentsply Sirona – adding a cool 1,496,935 shares. That’s roughly $19 million worth of hope, despair, and a dash of desperation, according to their SEC filings from November 10, 2025. So it goes.

What happened

The fund, that ever-eager collector of stocks, quietly revealed it bought a hefty chunk of Dentsply during the third quarter ending September 30, 2025. Multiplied by a million, it means gaining more than 1.5 million shares, pushing their total to over 1.5 million, worth roughly $19.34 million at the close of that financial quarter. Now, those shares make up about 13.5% of Brickwood’s U.S. equity meatloaf. An impressive appetite for a company with a track record that would give even the most optimistic investor pause.

What else to know

Brickwood’s buy pushed XRAY’s weight in their portfolio to just over 13.5%-a notable shift for what’s now their fifth-largest holding. The top pets are still Barrick Mining, Western Union, ManpowerGroup, and Envista. But XRAY’s position illustrates a gamble on a company in the twilight of its turnaround, or at least that’s what the smart money hopes.

As of November 7, 2025, XRAY was selling at $11.18 a share – down 32% from the previous year. That’s a lot of decline, worse than the S&P 500’s 50% underperformance, if you’re keeping track. It’s a stock caught in a storm of stagnation, with no clear signal of revival. So it goes.

In terms of size, XRAY is now Brickwood’s fifth-largest stake. You have to wonder if the fund’s appetite for turnaround stories reflects wisdom or wishful thinking. The question remains: Will the company bounce back, or is it just a battered horse about to be put out to pasture?

Company Overview

Metric	Value
Revenue (TTM)	$3.62 billion
Net Income (TTM)	-$882 million
Dividend Yield	5.72%
Price (as of 2025-11-07)	$11.18

Company Snapshot

Dentsply Sirona offers tools for teeth, tech for your dentist, and consumables that are used up faster than you can say “dental problems.” They sell CAD/CAM systems, imaging gear, clear aligners, and restorative goodies around the globe. Money flows in through selling these dental goodies, backed by a worldwide distribution network that keeps the whole thing humming, even as demand for their products persists like a recurring nightmare.

The company serves a broad mix of dental practitioners, specialists, and labs-so many teeth to fix, so little time. Its business model is diversified, which is code for: “We’re holding onto as many streams of revenue as possible, just in case one dries up.” And with its global reach, it enjoys a scale advantage-though scale sometimes just means you’re more exposed to the gravity of industry failures.

In sum, Dentsply Sirona is a giant in the dental tech world, juggling innovation, a diversified product line, and a recurring revenue stream-all the edge needed in a bloody competitive industry. Or so it claims. So it goes.

Foolish take

Brickwood’s purchase of Dentsply is a classic case of jumping into the deep end – from a mere 0.2% of their portfolio to an alarming 13.5%. They’re betting on a turnaround that’s been more of a slow shuffle. It’s the kind of stock that makes a careful investor’s nape hairs stand on end.

The fund seems to favor value plays, and Dentsply’s ongoing struggles seem like just the right kind of ‘value’ to them. But let’s be honest: XRAY is almost exactly the kind of stock I’d advise avoiding. Revenue’s been dead steady-flat as a pancake-for five years. Net income? Basically a negative echo chamber. Free cash flow is barely holding its hand above water. So it goes.

And then there’s the specter of debt-$2.1 billion in it-almost equal to its market cap of $2.2 billion. That’s like trying to stay afloat on a sinking ship while also setting fire to your cargo. You’d think high free cash flow might be a lifeline, but XRAY is still trying to prove it can turn the ship around. So far, no such luck.

Meanwhile, management keeps paying a dividend yield of 5.2%, throwing good money after bad, perhaps in hopes that the market, like a stubborn mule, will eventually come around. But the dividend could turn into fool’s gold if free cash flow keeps bleeding out. It’s a gamble-one that I’d probably pass on, given the company’s history of lawsuits and accusations. The risks pile up faster than the benefits.

Glossary

Stake: The chunk of the pie you own.
13F reportable assets: The stuff institutions are legally forced to talk about every quarter.
Assets Under Management (AUM): The total market value of all the investments kept in a fund’s fridge.
Net position change: How much more or less you own after doing some buying or selling.
Dividend yield: How much money you get for simply holding a stock, expressed as a percentage of its price.
Buy (executed a buy): The act of purchasing more slices of the investment pie.
Holding: The specific stocks or assets you’re stuck with.
TTM: The last 12 months, in case you’re counting.
Consumables: Products used up quickly, like dental supplies that vanish faster than your hopes during a recession.
Distribution network: The global spiderweb that gets products from factory to mouth.
Recurring product demand: The endless cycle of people needing replacements.
Portfolio: The collection of stuff you own, hoping it adds up to something someday.

So it goes, and so it continues-as we invest, lose, hope, and shuffle through the cosmic game of chance.

2025-11-10 19:52