CENTRAL
SECURITIES CORPORATION
STATEMENT OF INVESTMENTS
March 31, 2026
(unaudited)
| Shares | Value | |||||||
| COMMON STOCK 93.7% | ||||||||
| Banks & Diversified Financial 13.5% | ||||||||
| 140,000 | American Express Co. | $ | 42,347,200 | |||||
| 350,000 | Capital One Financial Corp. | 63,850,500 | ||||||
| 700,000 | Charles Schwab Corp. (The) | 65,786,000 | ||||||
| 140,000 | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 41,182,400 | ||||||
| 75,000 | Visa, Inc. Class A | 22,668,000 | ||||||
| 235,834,100 | ||||||||
| Communications Services 9.6% | ||||||||
| 400,000 | Alphabet, Inc. Class A | 115,024,000 | ||||||
| 90,000 | Meta Platforms, Inc. Class A | 51,491,700 | ||||||
| 166,515,700 | ||||||||
| Consumer Discretionary 6.2% | ||||||||
| 260,000 | Amazon.com, Inc. (a) | 54,150,200 | ||||||
| 15,500 | MercadoLibre, Inc. (a) | 26,799,810 | ||||||
| 500,000 | NIKE, Inc. Class B | 26,410,000 | ||||||
| 107,360,010 | ||||||||
| Diversified Industrial 4.4% | ||||||||
| 200,000 | Brady Corp. Class A | 16,248,000 | ||||||
| 100,000 | Equifax, Inc. | 18,007,000 | ||||||
| 600,000 | Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. (b) | 39,054,000 | ||||||
| 225,000 | WillScot Holdings Corp. | 3,906,000 | ||||||
| 77,215,000 | ||||||||
| Energy 3.0% | ||||||||
| 256,250 | Chevron Corp. | 53,018,125 | ||||||
| Health Care 3.3% | ||||||||
| 70,000 | Johnson & Johnson | 17,110,800 | ||||||
| 250,000 | Medtronic plc | 21,662,500 | ||||||
| 150,000 | Merck & Co., Inc. | 18,043,500 | ||||||
| 56,816,800 | ||||||||
| Insurance Brokers 3.7% | ||||||||
| 80,000 | Aon plc Class A | 25,822,400 | ||||||
| 135,000 | Arthur J Gallagher & Co. | 29,238,300 | ||||||
| 500,000 | TWFG, Inc. Class A (a) | 9,195,000 | ||||||
| 64,255,700 | ||||||||
| Insurance Underwriters 28.7% | ||||||||
| 400,000 | Progressive Corp. (The) | 79,296,000 | ||||||
| 28,424 | The Plymouth Rock Company Incorporated Class A (c)(d) | 420,646,776 | ||||||
| 499,942,776 | ||||||||
| Real Estate 1.5% | ||||||||
| 1,260,130 | Rayonier, Inc. | 25,983,881 | ||||||
| Shares | Value | |||||||
| Semiconductor 7.9% | ||||||||
| 350,000 | Analog Devices, Inc. | 111,349,000 | ||||||
| 80,000 | Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. ADR | 27,036,000 | ||||||
| 138,385,000 | ||||||||
Software and Services 2.7% | ||||||||
| 80,000 | Microsoft Corp. | 29,613,600 | ||||||
| 50,000 | Roper Technologies, Inc. | 17,693,000 | ||||||
| 47,306,600 | ||||||||
Technology Hardware and Equipment 9.2% | ||||||||
| 200,000 | Keysight Technologies, Inc. (a) | 56,474,000 | ||||||
| 140,000 | Motorola Solutions, Inc. | 60,755,800 | ||||||
| 70,000 | Teledyne Technologies, Inc. (a) | 42,350,700 | ||||||
| 159,580,500 | ||||||||
| Total Common Stock (Cost $490,937,763) | 1,632,214,192 | |||||||
SHORT TERM INVESTMENTS 6.2% | ||||||||
| Money Market Fund 4.2% | ||||||||
| 73,436,968 | JPMorgan 100% U.S. Treasury Securities Money Market Fund Institutional Class 3.51% | 73,436,968 | ||||||
Principal | U.S. Treasury Bills 2.0% | |||||||
| $ | 35,000,000 | U.S. Treasury Bills 3.66% due 4/7/2026 (e) | 34,978,971 | |||||
| Total Short Term Investments (Cost $108,415,939) | 108,415,939 | |||||||
| Total Investments (Cost $599,353,703) (99.9%) | 1,740,630,131 | |||||||
| Cash, receivables and other assets less liabilities (0.1%) | 882,249 | |||||||
| Net Assets (100%) | $ | 1,741,512,380 | ||||||
| (a) | Non-dividend paying. |
| (b) | Formerly known as Ashtead Group plc. |
| (c) | Affiliate as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 and restricted. See Note 3 and Note 4. |
| (d) | Valued based on Level 3 significant unobservable inputs. See Note 2. |
| (e) | 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 at the valuation date. 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, 2026, the tax cost of investments was $599,353,703. Net unrealized appreciation was $1,141,276,428 consisting of gross unrealized appreciation and gross unrealized depreciation of $1,173,598,246 and $32,321,818, 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, 2026 are classified as follows:
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | |||||||||||||
| Common stocks | $ | 1,211,567,416 | $ | — | $ | 420,646,776 | $ | 1,632,214,192 | ||||||||
| Short-term investments | 73,436,968 | 34,978,971 | — | 108,415,939 | ||||||||||||
| Total investments | $ | 1,285,004,384 | $ | 34,978,971 | $ | 420,646,776 | $ | 1,740,630,131 | ||||||||
The following is a reconciliation of the change in the value of Level 3 investments:
| Balance as of December 31, 2025 | $ | 443,471,248 | ||
| Change in net unrealized appreciation of investments in affiliated companies included in decrease in net assets from operations | (22,824,472 | ) | ||
| Balance as of March 31, 2026 | $ | 420,646,776 |
Unrealized appreciation of Level 3 investments still held as of March 31, 2026 decreased during the three months ended March 31, 2026 by $22,824,472, 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, 2026, 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: 1.0–2.1; average: 1.5); price-to-historical earnings (range: 11.6–22.1; average: 17.3); and price-to-forward earnings estimates (range: 8.8–17.4; average: 13.4). Management also used a discounted cash flow model based on a forecasted return on equity of approximately 13% and a cost of capital of approximately 10%. 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 approved 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, 2026, the Corporation’s only restricted security consisted of 28,424 shares of Plymouth Rock Class A stock that were acquired on December 15, 1982 at a cost of $710,600. This security had a value of $420,646,776 at March 31, 2026, which was equal to 24.2% 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, 2026, unrealized appreciation from the Corporation’s investment in Plymouth Rock decreased by $22,824,472 and the Corporation received dividends of $14,219,674 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.