UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM N-Q QUARTERLY SCHEDULE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS OF REGISTERED MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANY Investment Company Act file number: 811-00248 --------------------------------------------- THE ADAMS EXPRESS COMPANY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Exact name of registrant as specified in charter) 7 Saint Paul Street, Suite 1140, Baltimore, Maryland 21202 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code) Lawrence L. Hooper, Jr. The Adams Express Company 7 Saint Paul Street Suite 1140 Baltimore, Maryland 21202 Registrant's telephone number, including area code: 410-752-5900 Date of fiscal year end: December 31, 2005 Date of reporting period: September 30, 2005 Item 1: SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS. SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 30, 2005 (unaudited) Shares Value (A) --------- ------------ Stocks and Convertible Securities -- 95.7% Consumer -- 16.1% Consumer Discretionary -- 6.7% BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. (B) ..................... 500,000 $ 13,900,000 Clear Channel Communications Inc. ......................... 350,000 11,511,500 Comcast Corp. (B) ............. 350,000 10,283,000 Gannett Co., Inc. ............. 97,500 6,710,925 Newell Rubbermaid Inc. ........ 515,000 11,664,750 Outback Steakhouse, Inc. ...... 300,000 10,980,000 Target Corp. .................. 410,000 21,291,300 ------------ 86,341,475 ------------ Consumer Staples -- 9.4% Bunge Ltd. .................... 205,000 10,787,100 Coca-Cola Co. ................. 200,000 8,638,000 Dean Foods Co. (B)............. 500,000 19,430,000 Del Monte Foods Co. (B) ....... 1,115,000 11,963,950 PepsiCo, Inc. ................. 440,000 24,952,400 Procter & Gamble Co. .......... 340,000 20,216,400 Safeway, Inc. ................. 423,000 10,828,800 Unilever plc ADR .............. 345,000 14,565,900 ------------ 121,382,550 ------------ Energy -- 11.6% BP plc ADR .................... 270,000 19,129,500 ConocoPhillips ................ 380,000 26,565,800 Exxon Mobil Corp. ............. 130,000 8,260,200 Murphy Oil Corp. .............. 209,600 10,452,752 Petroleum & Resources Corporation (C) .............. 1,985,996 69,410,560 Schlumberger Ltd. ............. 190,000 16,032,200 ------------ 149,851,012 ------------ Financials -- 14.7% Banking -- 10.6% Bank of America Corp. ......... 550,000 23,155,000 BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. ..... 300,000 5,097,000 Compass Bancshares Inc. ....... 300,000 13,749,000 Fifth Third Bancorp ........... 270,000 9,917,100 Investors Financial Services Corp. (D) .................... 380,000 12,502,000 North Fork Bancorporation, Inc. ......................... 450,000 11,475,000 Provident Bankshares Corp. .... 110,000 3,825,800 Wachovia Corp. ................ 370,000 17,608,300 Wells Fargo & Co. ............. 400,000 23,428,000 Wilmington Trust Corp. ........ 420,000 15,309,000 ------------ 136,066,200 ------------ Insurance -- 4.1% AMBAC Financial Group, Inc. ......................... 295,000 21,257,700 American International Group, Inc. ......................... 500,000 30,980,000 ------------ 52,237,700 ------------ Health Care -- 12.5% Abbott Laboratories 350,000 $ 14,840,000 Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. 345,000 8,300,700 Genentech, Inc. (B) 240,000 20,210,400 HCA Inc. 310,000 14,855,200 Johnson & Johnson 255,000 16,136,400 Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (B) 235,000 11,446,850 MedImmune, Inc. (B) 225,000 7,571,250 Medtronic Inc. 310,000 16,622,200 Pfizer Inc. 1,120,000 27,966,400 Wyeth Co. 325,000 15,037,750 Zimmer Holdings Inc. (B) 125,000 8,611,250 ------------ 161,598,400 ------------ Industrials -- 11.4% Cintas Corp. 300,000 12,315,000 Curtiss-Wright Corp. 195,500 12,064,305 Donnelley (R.R.) & Sons Co. 260,000 9,638,200 Emerson Electric Co. 200,000 14,360,000 General Electric Co. 1,487,700 50,090,859 Illinois Tool Works Inc. 125,000 10,291,250 3M Co. 160,000 11,737,600 United Parcel Service, Inc. 155,000 10,715,150 United Technologies Corp. 300,000 15,552,000 ------------ 146,764,364 ------------ Information Technology -- 13.8% Communication Equipment -- 2.1% Avaya Inc. (B) 600,000 6,180,000 Corning Inc. (B) 615,000 11,887,950 Lucent Technologies Inc. (B) 2,900,000 9,425,000 ------------ 27,492,950 ------------ Computer Related -- 9.6% Automatic Data Processing Inc. 300,000 12,912,000 BEA Systems Inc. (B) 800,000 7,184,000 Cisco Systems, Inc. (B) 1,200,000 21,516,000 Dell Inc. (B) 400,000 13,680,000 DiamondCluster International Inc. (B) 497,500 3,771,050 Microsoft Corp. 1,140,000 29,332,200 Oracle Corp. (B) 880,000 10,903,200 Sapient Corp. (B) 1,150,000 7,187,500 Siebel Systems Inc. 800,000 8,264,000 Symantec Corp. (B) 400,000 9,064,000 ------------ 123,813,950 ------------ Electronics -- 2.1% Cree, Inc. (B)(D) 500,000 12,510,000 Intel Corp. 310,000 7,641,500 Solectron Corp. (B) 1,850,000 7,233,500 ------------ 27,385,000 ------------ 9 SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 30, 2005 (unaudited) Shares Value (A) ------- --------------- Materials -- 4.7% Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. ........................... 250,000 $ 13,785,000 du Pont (E.I.) de Nemours and Co. 360,000 14,101,200 Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. 120,000 9,415,200 Rohm & Haas Co. ................. 400,000 16,452,000 Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. (B) ...................... 650,000 6,734,000 --------------- 60,487,400 --------------- Telecom Services -- 4.0% Alltel Corp. .................... 300,000 19,533,000 BellSouth Corp. ................. 200,000 5,260,000 SBC Communications Inc. ......... 595,000 14,262,150 Vodafone Group plc ADS ............................ 492,613 12,793,160 --------------- 51,848,310 --------------- Utilities -- 6.9% Aqua America, Inc. .............. 900,000 34,218,000 Black Hills Corp. ............... 245,000 10,625,650 Duke Energy Corp. (D) 611,560 17,839,205 Keyspan Corp. 140,000 5,149,200 MDU Resources Group, Inc. 575,000 20,498,750 --------------- 88,330,805 --------------- Total Stocks and Convertible Securities (Cost $908,078,682) (E) ................... $ 1,233,600,116 --------------- Short-Term Investments -- 3.7% U.S. Government Obligations -- 1.4% U.S. Treasury Bills, 3.39%, due 11/17/05 $ 17,500,000 $ 17,422,548 --------------- Time Deposit -- 0.0% Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., 3.31%, due 10/3/05 18,616 --------------- Commercial Paper -- 2.3% American General Finance Corp., 3.69-3.77%, due 10/4/05-10/25/05 6,000,000 5,993,743 ChevronTexaco Funding Corp., 3.60-3.67%, due 10/13/05-10/18/05 8,800,000 8,787,841 General Electric Capital Corp., 3.63-3.78%, due 10/11/05-11/3/05 6,840,000 6,824,345 Toyota Motor Credit Corp., 3.52-3.69%, due 10/4/05-10/20/05 8,150,000 8,141,231 --------------- 29,747,160 --------------- Total Short-Term Investments (Cost $47,188,324) 47,188,324 --------------- Securities Lending Collateral -- 2.2% Brown Brothers Investment Trust, 3.75%, due 10/3/05.... 28,263,605 --------------- Total Securities Lending Collateral (Cost $28,263,605) 28,263,605 --------------- Total Investments -- 101.6% (Cost $983,530,611) 1,309,052,045 Cash, receivables, prepaid expenses and other assets, less liabilities -- (1.6)% (20,809,203) --------------- Net Assets -- 100% $ 1,288,242,842 =============== -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: (A) See note 1 to financial statements. Securities are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ. (B) Presently non-dividend paying. (C) Non-controlled affiliate, a closed-end sector fund, registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. (D) Some or all of these securities are on loan. See note 8 to financial statements. (E) The aggregate market value of stocks held in escrow at September 30, 2005 covering open call option contracts written was $12,876,420. In addition, the aggregate market value of securities segregated by the Company's custodian required to collateralize open put option contracts written was $14,475,000. 10 INVESTMENTS IN AND ADVANCES TO AFFILIATES COLUMN A COLUMN B COLUMN C COLUMN D COLUMN E Name of Number of Amount of Amount of Value of issuer and shares equity in dividends or each item title of net profit interest at close of issue or and loss for period nature of the period indebtedness ----------- Petroleum & 1,985,996 - 0 - (1) Credited $69,410,560 Resources to Income Corporation - $655,379 common stock ----------- (2) Other (long term capital gain) $119,160 SCHEDULE OF OUTSTANDING OPTION CONTRACTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 30, 2005 (unaudited) Contracts (100 Contract shares Strike Expiration Appreciation/ each) Security Price Date (Depreciation) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COVERED CALLS 100 AMBAC Financial Group, Inc. ......... $ 85 Nov 05 $ 20,574 100 AMBAC Financial Group, Inc. ......... 80 Jan 06 3,199 50 Genentech, Inc. ..................... 100 Oct 05 5,350 100 Genentech, Inc. ..................... 110 Dec 05 7,700 100 Illinois Tool Works, Inc. ........... 90 Dec 05 8,699 100 Illinois Tool Works, Inc. ........... 90 Jan 06 1,700 200 Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. ..... 70 Oct 05 (143,601) 75 Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. ..... 75 Oct 05 (17,476) 170 Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. ..... 75 Jan 06 (102,511) 200 Murphy Oil Corp. .................... 60 Oct 05 7,700 100 Schlumberger Ltd. ................... 100 Jan 06 5,199 150 Target Corp. ........................ 60 Oct 05 15,149 100 Target Corp. ........................ 60 Jan 06 5,200 100 United Technologies Corp. ........... 55 Jan 06 200 100 Zimmer Holdings Inc. ................ 90 Dec 05 8,450 100 Zimmer Holdings Inc. ................ 95 Jan 06 9,700 ----- ----------- 1,845 (164,768) ----- ----------- COLLATERALIZED PUTS 250 Bank of America Corp. ............... 42.50 Jan 06 (12,626) 100 Bunge Ltd. .......................... 50 Oct 05 (300) 100 Bunge Ltd. .......................... 55 Oct 05 (16,301) 100 Bunge Ltd. .......................... 50 Jan 06 (8,801) 150 Cintas Corp. ........................ 35 Nov 05 15,299 150 Comcast Corp. ....................... 30 Jan 06 (7,951) 100 Exxon Mobil Corp. ................... 50 Oct 05 12,199 100 Exxon Mobil Corp. ................... 55 Oct 05 11,199 100 Exxon Mobil Corp. ................... 55 Jan 06 10,199 100 Fifth Third Bancorp ................. 40 Nov 05 (23,301) 150 Gannett Co., Inc. ................... 70 Oct 05 (13,951) 150 Investors Financial Services Corp. .. 37.50 Oct 05 (43,951) 100 Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. ..... 65 Jan 05 7,949 150 Outback Steakhouse, Inc. ............ 40 Oct 05 (39,451) 250 Outback Steakhouse, Inc. ............ 40 Feb 06 (78,251) 100 3M Co. .............................. 65 Oct 05 9,700 100 3M Co. .............................. 65 Jan 06 4,200 100 United Parcel Service, Inc. ......... 60 Oct 05 7,700 100 United Parcel Service, Inc. ......... 65 Oct 05 6,200 150 Zimmer Holdings Inc. ................ 65 Dec 05 (1,951) 250 Zimmer Holdings Inc. ................ 60 Jan 06 499 ----- ----------- 2,850 (161,691) ----- ----------- $ (326,459) =========== 12 (SELECTED) NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Unaudited) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Adams Express Company (the Company) is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 as a diversified investment company. The Companys investment objectives as well as the nature and risk of its investment transactions are set forth in the Companys registration statement. Security Valuation-Investments in securities traded on a national security exchange are valued at the last reported sale price on the day of valuation. Over-the-counter and listed securities for which a sale price is not available are valued at the last quoted bid price. Short-term investments (excluding purchased options) are valued at amortized cost. Purchased and written options are valued at the last quoted asked price. For federal income tax purposes, the identified cost of securities at September 30, 2005 was $954,779,755 and net unrealized appreciation aggregated $326,008,685, of which the related gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation were $439,609,769 and $113,601,084 respectively. 8. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES LOANED The Company makes loans of securities to brokers, secured by cash deposits, U.S. Government securities, or bank letters of credit. The Company accounts for securities lending transactions as secured financing and receives compensation in the form of fees or retains a portion of interest on the investment of any cash received as collateral. The Company also continues to receive interest or dividends on the securities loaned. The loans are secured at all times by collateral of at least 102% of the fair value of the securities loaned plus accrued interest. Gain or loss in the fair value of the securities loaned that may occur during the term of the loan will be for the account of the Company At September 30, 2005, the Company had securities on loan of $27,480,230 and held collateral of $28,263,605, consisting of an investment trust fund which may invest in money market instruments, commercial paper, repurchase agreements, U.S. treasury bills, and U.S. agency obligations. Item 2. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES. Conclusions of principal officers concerning controls and procedures: (a) As of November 15, 2005, an evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of the officers of The Adams Express Company (the "Company"), including the principal executive officer ("PEO") and principal financial officer ("PFO"), of the effectiveness of the Companys disclosure controls and procedures. Based on that evaluation, the Company's officers, including the PEO and PFO, concluded that, as of November 15, 2005, the Companys disclosure controls and procedures were reasonably designed so as to ensure: (1) that information required to be disclosed by the Company on Form N-Q is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified by the rules and forms of the Securities and Exchange Commission; and (2) that material information relating to the Company is made known to the PEO and PFO as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. (b) There have been no significant changes in the Company's internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (17 CFR 270.30a-3(d)) that occurred during the Company's last fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Item 3. EXHIBITS. The certifications of the principal executive officer and principal financial officer pursuant to Rule 30a-2(a) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 are attached hereto as Form N-Q Certifications. SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized. THE ADAMS EXPRESS COMPANY BY: /s/ Douglas G. Ober ----------------------- Douglas G. Ober Chief Executive Officer Date: November 15, 2005 Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated. BY: /s/ Douglas G. Ober ----------------------- Douglas G. Ober Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) Date: November 15, 2005 BY: /s/ Maureen A. Jones ----------------------- Maureen A. Jones Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer (Principal Financial Officer) Date: November 15, 2005