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'League of Legends' take on 'Auto Chess' reaches open beta this week
Riot Games isn't going to letDota Underlordscapitalize on theAuto Chesstrend without offering a fight. The developer isrolling outthe open beta test for itsLeague of Legendsequivalent,Teamfight Tactics, over the course of the week. It's already available on the Japanese and Oceania servers, and should reach North America, Europe, Russia and Turkey the following day. Other regions will join over the two days after that.
Don't expect to simply walk right in. Japanese and Oceanic users will need at least a level 10 account to play early on. The missions and client hubs will only be enabled in some regions (including North America and Latin America) a week afterTeamfight Tacticsis available. Transfers won't work until July 1st, the practice tool has been disabled, and you can't have more than 10 players in custom modes. Riot wants to be sure everything is working "as intended," and doesn't want to rob people of rewards (like a Little Legend and a beta pass) until then.
If you do play, it might seem familiar. It's a rough equivalent to the popularDota Auto Chessmod (and by extension,Dota Underlords) that has eight players choose teams of champions that automatically do battle against each other. Whoever's the last one standing wins. It's a blend of strategy, turn-based gaming and even a dash of card gaming, and it's been rabidly popular -- to the point where Riot and Valve both felt compelled to produce official counterparts. There's no guarantee they'll be as popular as the original, but that clearly isn't stopping them from riding the bandwagon. |
Why Dividend Hunters Love Sharda Cropchem Limited (NSE:SHARDACROP)
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Is Sharda Cropchem Limited (NSE:SHARDACROP) a good dividend stock? How would you know? Dividend paying companies with growing earnings can be highly rewarding in the long term. Yet sometimes, investors buy a stock for its dividend and lose money because the share price falls by more than they earned in dividend payments.
Investors might not know much about Sharda Cropchem's dividend prospects, even though it has been paying dividends for the last four years and offers a 1.3% yield. A 1.3% yield is not inspiring, but the longer payment history has some appeal. Some simple research can reduce the risk of buying Sharda Cropchem for its dividend - read on to learn more.
Click the interactive chart for our full dividend analysis
Companies (usually) pay dividends out of their earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, the dividend might have to be cut. As a result, we should always investigate whether a company can afford its dividend, measured as a percentage of a company's net income after tax. Looking at the data, we can see that 20% of Sharda Cropchem's profits were paid out as dividends in the last 12 months. We'd say its dividends are thoroughly covered by earnings.
Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Sharda Cropchem's latest financial position,by checking our visualisation of its financial health.
Before buying a stock for its income, we want to see if the dividends have been stable in the past, and if the company has a track record of maintaining its dividend. Looking at the data, we can see that Sharda Cropchem has been paying a dividend for the past four years. The company has been paying a stable dividend for a few years now, but we'd like to see more evidence of consistency over a longer period. During the past four-year period, the first annual payment was ₹2.50 in 2015, compared to ₹4.00 last year. Dividends per share have grown at approximately 12% per year over this time.
We're not overly excited about the relatively short history of dividend payments, however the dividend is growing at a nice rate and we might take a closer look.
The other half of the dividend investing equation is evaluating whether earnings per share (EPS) are growing. Over the long term, dividends need to grow at or above the rate of inflation, in order to maintain the recipient's purchasing power. Earnings have grown at around 9.7% a year for the past five years, which is better than seeing them shrink! With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Sharda Cropchem's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.
To summarise, shareholders should always check that Sharda Cropchem's dividends are affordable, that its dividend payments are relatively stable, and that it has decent prospects for growing its earnings and dividend. It's great to see that Sharda Cropchem is paying out a low percentage of its earnings and cash flow. We were also glad to see it growing earnings, although its dividend history is not as long as we'd like. Overall we think Sharda Cropchem scores well on our analysis. It's not quite perfect, but we'd definitely be keen to take a closer look.
Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 6 analysts we track are forecasting for Sharda Cropchemfor freewith publicanalyst estimates for the company.
Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try ourcurated list of dividend stocks with a yield above 3%.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
What Kind Of Shareholders Own Qian Hu Corporation Limited (SGX:BCV)?
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Every investor in Qian Hu Corporation Limited (SGX:BCV) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, 'Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.'
Qian Hu is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of S$16m, which means it wouldn't have the attention of many institutional investors. In the chart below below, we can see that institutional investors have not yet purchased much of the company. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about BCV.
View our latest analysis for Qian Hu
Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.
Since institutions own under 5% of Qian Hu, many may not have spent much time considering the stock. But it's clear that some have; and they liked it enough to buy in. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Qian Hu. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Qian Hu Corporation Limited. It has a market capitalization of just S$16m, and insiders have S$6.2m worth of shares in their own names. I would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You canclick here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
The general public holds a 37% stake in BCV. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.
Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 24%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too.
I like to dive deeperinto how a company has performed in the past. You can findhistoric revenue and earnings in thisdetailed graph.
Of course,you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere.So take a peek at thisfreelist of interesting companies.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Do Institutions Own Qian Hu Corporation Limited (SGX:BCV) Shares?
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The big shareholder groups in Qian Hu Corporation Limited (SGX:BCV) have power over the company. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies. I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, 'Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.'
With a market capitalization of S$16m, Qian Hu is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. In the chart below below, we can see that institutions are not really that prevalent on the share registry. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about BCV.
See our latest analysis for Qian Hu
Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.
Less than 5% of Qian Hu is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. When multiple institutional investors want to buy shares, we often see a rising share price. The past revenue trajectory (shown below) can be an indication of future growth, but there are no guarantees.
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Qian Hu. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.
The definition of company insiders can be subjective, and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Qian Hu Corporation Limited. Insiders own S$6.2m worth of shares in the S$16m company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checkingif those insiders have been buying recently.
With a 37% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over BCV. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.
Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 24%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too.
I like to dive deeperinto how a company has performed in the past. You can accessthisinteractive graphof past earnings, revenue and cash flow for free.
Of coursethis may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at thisfreefreelist of interesting companies.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Singapore's factories go no-frills as trade war hits demand
By Aradhana Aravindan and Fathin Ungku
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Last year, Singaporean chemicals factory boss Erman Tan took his employees on a cruise to the Malaysian island of Penang. This year, Tan says the best he can offer is to watch a video of the trip.
Singapore's economy is expected to grow at its slowest pace in a decade this year, and some experts are predicting a recession in 2020, as the U.S.-China trade war looks set to hit the export-reliant city-state harder than others in Southeast Asia.
This has prompted some economists to raise bets on the central bank easing monetary policy at its next meeting in October, or even out of cycle, especially if the U.S. Federal Reserve were to cut interest rates next month.
There is also speculation that the government could provide incentives to boost growth, but businesses like Tan's don't expect fiscal or monetary policy to be enough to arrest an economic decline that is mostly a result of a global slowdown.
"Many times you rely on yourself," said Tan, chief executive of Asia Polyurethane Manufacturing, which is cutting costs as customers in China hold back orders.
With revenues down 20 percent last year, his employees can forget about sailing around tropical islands.
"This year, we will watch the video like a virtual (experience). Let them put on goggles," he quipped.
To be sure, parts of the economy, such as construction and private consumption, have held up, supported by upward wage pressure from foreign worker restrictions and large long-term building projects.
But with exports equal to about 200% of Singapore's gross domestic product, a much larger weighting than those in neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia, bumping up domestic consumption is unlikely to meaningfully boost growth.
Singapore must expect some fallout from global trade disruption, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told reporters in Bangkok over the weekend.
"You cannot just step on the gas and speed up and make up for a less favourable external environment," Lee said.
The uncertainty is prompting businesses to cut costs as they prepare for a drawn-out battle between the world's two biggest economies.
"No one wants to invest now, because they want to see what happens in the trade war," said John Kong, chief executive of building materials supplier M Metal, which employs 64 people.
Kong has asked his workers to turn off air-conditioning units when they leave for lunch and to stop printing in colour.
NOT OUT OF THE WOODS
Singapore's economic data has been grim lately.
Electronics exports, a major driver of Singapore's growth over the past two years, saw their biggest decline in more than a decade, hit by a global downturn in the semiconductor industry, data showed last week.
Overall exports in May declined the most in more than three years as shipments to China slumped.
In the labour market, the number of retrenchments rose 40% in the first quarter of 2019 from a year ago, driven by cuts in the manufacturing sector, according to official data released this month.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore closely tracks data and there is a growing chance it may ease its currency-focused monetary policy for the first time in nearly three years.
Some say the central bank could even ease outside of its bi-annual meeting schedule as it did in January 2015 when it sought to counter deflationary pressures amid slowing growth.
But a more accommodative stance won't be enough to reinvigorate the economy, said CIMB Private Banking economist, Song Seng Wun, as a weaker Singapore dollar will not necessarily push up exports.
"Singapore businesses won't suddenly become so competitive that we are going to be selling a lot more of our goods and services," he said.
The finance ministry also has limited space to help given already-low tax rates, along with numerous incentives and cost offsets and an expansionary budget this year.
"The awkwardness is that the economy isn't really meant for huge additional infrastructure spending," said Rob Carnell, chief economist at ING.
"There's a lot of expenditure that goes on continuously in Singapore."
Further stimulus could come in the form of tax cuts and more rebates but factory operators aren't waiting for the government to come to their rescue.
"You, as the manufacturer, have to find a way to boost sales," said Sam Chee Wah, general manager at Feinmetall Singapore, whose products are used for testing semiconductor wafers, a component in microchips.
Sam says he's been bracing for a tech slowdown since last year - holding back hiring and major capital investments. He's now considering offering discounts or delayed payment terms to customers.
With U.S.-China hostilities showing no signs of abating, Singapore will have to weather the storm for some time to come.
"We are not out of the woods yet," said Sian Fenner, lead economist at Oxford Economics. "We haven't seen the worst."
(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan and Fathin Ungku; Editing by Joe Brock and Sam Holmes) |
Credit Suisse goes big on restaurant stocks, including Chipotle
Credit Suisse analyst Lauren Silberman initiated coverage on nearly a dozen restaurant stocks on Tuesday with Outperform ratings on more than half, including Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) . Silberman gave an $870 price target on the stock, citing the company’s ability to shift its narrative to one of growth rather than recovery. The new Chipotle Nachos dish is seen on display with other new dishes at the Chipotle Next Kitchen in Manhattan, New York, U.S., June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton The company has made a serious effort to transform its image after a series of foodborne illness outbreaks at its various stores, dating back to late 2015. The outbreaks affected hundreds and spanned across several states. The company announced back in April that it received another subpoena from U.S. federal prosecutors, related to an outbreak that left customers sick in 2018 in an Ohio restaurant. Digital and delivery Silberman also said that Chipotle’s trend initiatives, like the shift to digital and delivery, positions the company well to appeal to its base and outperform peers. “Chipotle is the only large restaurant company to integrate delivery in its app,” Silberman said. “Chipotle has doubled its digital utilization in just two years, with mobile order & pay and delivery now representing 15% of sales,” Silberman said. “Operations are well suited for an omni-channel strategy, with secondary production lines executing out of restaurant sales, ‘smarter pickup times’ technology for visibility into order processing and in-store pickup shelves for digital orders. ” Dunkin Brands ( DNKN ) and Jack in the Box ( JACK ) were among the firm’s least favorite restaurants, with both companies receiving underperform ratings. Bridgette Webb is a producer at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @bridgetteAwebb . Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , Flipboard , SmartNews , LinkedIn , YouTube , and reddit . |
With 23% Earnings Growth, Did PNE Industries Ltd (SGX:BDA) Outperform The Industry?
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For long-term investors, assessing earnings trend over time and against industry benchmarks is more beneficial than examining a single earnings announcement at a point in time. Investors may find my commentary, albeit very high-level and brief, on PNE Industries Ltd (SGX:BDA) useful as an attempt to give more color around how PNE Industries is currently performing.
See our latest analysis for PNE Industries
BDA's trailing twelve-month earnings (from 31 March 2019) of S$6.7m has jumped 23% compared to the previous year.
Furthermore, this one-year growth rate has exceeded its 5-year annual growth average of -12%, indicating the rate at which BDA is growing has accelerated. What's enabled this growth? Let's take a look at if it is only a result of industry tailwinds, or if PNE Industries has experienced some company-specific growth.
In terms of returns from investment, PNE Industries has fallen short of achieving a 20% return on equity (ROE), recording 8.3% instead. However, its return on assets (ROA) of 6.1% exceeds the SG Electronic industry of 4.4%, indicating PNE Industries has used its assets more efficiently. Though, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for PNE Industries’s debt level, has declined over the past 3 years from 13% to 8.4%.
Though PNE Industries's past data is helpful, it is only one aspect of my investment thesis. Recent positive growth doesn’t necessarily mean it’s onwards and upwards for the company. I recommend you continue to research PNE Industries to get a better picture of the stock by looking at:
1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for BDA’s future growth? Take a look at ourfree research report of analyst consensusfor BDA’s outlook.
2. Financial Health: Are BDA’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out ourfinancial health checks here.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore ourfree list of these great stocks here.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 31 March 2019. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Should You Worry About Azeus Systems Holdings Ltd.'s (SGX:BBW) CEO Pay Cheque?
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The CEO of Azeus Systems Holdings Ltd. (SGX:BBW) is Wan Lee. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.
Check out our latest analysis for Azeus Systems Holdings
According to our data, Azeus Systems Holdings Ltd. has a market capitalization of S$21m, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth HK$618k. (This figure is for the year to March 2019). Notably, the salary of HK$600k is the vast majority of the CEO compensation. We examined a group of similar sized companies, with market capitalizations of below HK$1.6b. The median CEO total compensation in that group is HK$1.8m.
A first glance this seems like a real positive for shareholders, since Wan Lee is paid less than the average total compensation paid by similar sized companies. However, before we heap on the praise, we should delve deeper to understand business performance.
You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Azeus Systems Holdings has changed over time.
Azeus Systems Holdings Ltd. has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 73% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 44% over last year.
This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. It's great to see that revenue growth is strong, too. These metrics suggest the business is growing strongly. Although we don't have analyst forecasts, shareholders might want to examinethis detailed historical graphof earnings, revenue and cash flow.
Most shareholders would probably be pleased with Azeus Systems Holdings Ltd. for providing a total return of 47% over three years. So they may not be at all concerned if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.
Azeus Systems Holdings Ltd. is currently paying its CEO below what is normal for companies of its size. Many would consider this to indicate that the pay is modest since the business is growing. The strong history of shareholder returns might even have some thinking that Wan Lee deserves a raise!
Most shareholders like to see a modestly paid CEO combined with strong performance by the company. The cherry on top would be if company insiders are buying shares with their own money. Shareholders may want tocheck for free if Azeus Systems Holdings insiders are buying or selling shares.
If you want to buy a stock that is better than Azeus Systems Holdings, thisfreelist of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Micron Technology Inc (MU) Q3 2019 Earnings Call Transcript
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Micron Technology Inc(NASDAQ: MU)Q3 2019 Earnings CallJun 25, 2019,4:30 p.m. ET
• Prepared Remarks
• Questions and Answers
• Call Participants
Operator
Good day, ladies and gentlemen and thank you for your patience. You've joined the Third Fiscal Quarter 2019 Financial Call for Micron Technology. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question-and-answer session and instructions will follow at that time.
(Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference may be recorded.
I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Head of Investor Relations Farhan Ahmad. Sir, you may begin.
Farhan Ahmad--Head of Investor Relations
Thank you and welcome to Micron Technology's third fiscal quarter 2019 financial conference call. On the call with me today are Sanjay Mehrotra, President and CEO; and Dave Zinsner, Chief Financial Officer. Today's call will be approximately 60 minutes in length.
This call, including the audio and slides is also being webcast from our Investor Relations website at investors.micron.com. In addition, our website contains the earnings press release filed a short while ago.
Today's discussion of financial results will be presented on a non-GAAP financial basis unless otherwise specified. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures may be found on our website along with the convertible debt and capped call dilution table. As a reminder, the prepared calls from this call and the webcast replay will be available on our website later today. We encourage you to monitor our website at micron.com throughout the quarter for the most current information on the company, including information on the various financial conferences that we will be attending. You can follow us on Twitter at MicronTech.
As a reminder, the matters we will be discussing today include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from statements made today. We refer you to documents we filed with the SEC, specifically our most recent 10-K and Form 10-Q for a discussion of risks that may affect our future results. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activities, performance or achievements. We are under no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after today's date to conform these statements to actual results.
I will now turn the call over to Sanjay.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you Farhan, good afternoon everyone. Micron delivered solid fiscal third quarter results, despite headwinds from industry oversupply and steeper than expected price declines. This financial performance reflects our continued strong execution on technology advancement, product cost reduction, and pricing discipline. Our healthy balance sheet, structurally improved profitability, and winning team set the foundation for us to emerge even stronger when the industry environment recovers.
We are confident that the long-term demand outlook for memory and storage is compelling, driven by broad secular trends such as AI, autonomous vehicles, 5G, and IoT. The new Micron is well positioned to take advantage of these trends with innovative products, a responsive supply chain, and well established relationship with customers worldwide.
Over the last few months, customer inventory improvements have progressed largely in line with our expectations in most end markets. This reinforces our confidence that bid demand for DRAM will return to healthy year-over-year growth in the second half of calendar 2019. NAND bid demand is also increasing in most markets as elasticity kicks in response to price declines over the last year. Even as customer inventory levels of DRAM and NAND improve across most end markets, producer inventory levels are elevated. Although previously announced CapEx cuts will start to impact industry supply in the second half of the calendar year, our assessment is that further cuts in CapEx and bit supply will be required to return the industry to a healthy supply demand balance.
I will discuss our actions on this front shortly, but first let me provide an overview of our fiscal third quarter results. At our 2018 Analyst Day, we discussed our priorities related to technology, cost competitiveness, and high value solutions. Solid execution on these strategies has now yielded over 2,000 basis points of EBITDA margin improvement relative to our peers since 2016. Unlike the last downturn during which Micron's relative profitability declined in this downturn our relative profitability has continued to improve. In DRAM, we are on track to deliver good cost declines in fiscal 2019. We continue to increase the mix of 1Y nanometer and are making excellent progress toward ramping 1Z next fiscal year.
In April, we broke ground on our new cleanroom in Taichung, Taiwan. And earlier this month, we announced the opening of the new cleanroom in Hiroshima, Japan. These cleanroom expansions will enable future DRAM node transitions of our existing wafer capacity. In NAND we continue to ramp our 96-layer 3D NAND and are on track to achieve healthy cost declines in fiscal 2019. We continue to make progress on our 128-layer 3D NAND, which uses replacement gate technology. As we discussed on the last call, we expect a partial transition to this node with the full portfolio transition occurring on the second generation replacement gate node.
In addition to these transitions in DRAM and NAND, we are also improving our cost structure by increasing the percentage of products produced through captive back-end packaging facilities. These facilities now account for more than half of our total assembly requirements. Our captive back-end operations are tightly integrated with our front-end systems enabling greater product customization, tighter quality control, improved responsiveness to shifts in demand, and lower costs.
High value solutions now account for over two-thirds of NAND revenues. We made further progress in strengthening our SSD portfolio with the launch of our 9,300 data centers and NVMe SSDs for cloud and enterprise markets. We more than doubled revenue shipments of our new NVMe client SSD to large PC OEMs and more customer qualifications are in progress. As a reminder, this new NVMe drive is built with our own controller technology. QLC SSD shipments increased approximately 75% sequentially, driven by growth of our consumer NVMe SSDs.
Overall, the Micron team continues to execute well on cost reductions and on high value solutions. While we are operating in a difficult industry environment today, our progress is visible in our reported profitability and increases our confidence in our ability to drive long-term shareholder value.
Now turning to highlights by end markets. Our mobile business was impacted by US trade restrictions, which Dave and I will discuss later in the call. Looking ahead, innovations such as 5G, foldable phones, and advanced cameras will drive growth for our products. Our portfolio of mobile DRAM products features best-in-class power consumption. On low power DDR5, we are leading the industry and recently started sampling the highest density die in the market. We continue to make good progress on our managed end products as well and recently launched our second-generation UFS product with best-in-class endurance.
Within the data center market, cloud customers are turning the corner on inventories and most are approaching normal inventory levels. Our cloud DRAM bit shipments grew sequentially in the fiscal third quarter exceeding our expectations and early trends suggest strong sequential growth for the fiscal fourth quarter. Enterprise customer inventories are taking somewhat longer to normalize than we had previously expected. We continue to sample and secure qualifications on 64-gigabyte DDR4 server modules built with our 1Y-nanometer DRAM. In graphics, we saw robust sequential growth as customer inventories normalized. We expanded our customer base for our high performance GDDR6, which positions us well for strong growth in the second half of calendar 2019.
In the PC market, DRAM bit shipments return to growth as CPU shortages started to improve. Looking ahead, we expect strong sequential DRAM bit growth in our fiscal fourth quarter as laptop sales improve. In automotive, while global auto sales are slow, content growth remains strong, driven by innovations in ADAS and infotainment systems. Micron is well positioned to benefit from the growth opportunity in this market, given our leading market share, deep customer relationships, and high quality products. We recently began ramping shipments with an industry leading OEM for their most advanced autonomous system, which uses 16 gigabytes of our low power DRAM.
Before talking about the market outlook, I want to provide some comments related to Huawei. As you know effective May 16th, the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security or BIS added Huawei and 68 of its non-US affiliates to the BIS entity list. To ensure compliance, Micron immediately suspended shipments to Huawei and begin a review of Micron products sold to Huawei to determine whether they are subject to the imposed restrictions. Through this review, we determined that we could lawfully resume shipping a subset of current products because they are not subject to export administration regulations and entity list restrictions.
We have started shipping some orders of those products to Huawei in the last two weeks. However, there is considerable ongoing uncertainty surrounding the Huawei situation and we are unable to predict the volumes or time periods over which we will be able to ship products to Huawei. Micron will continue to comply with all government and legal requirements just as we do in all our operations globally. Of course, we cannot predict whether additional government actions may further impact our ability to ship to Huawei.
Now turning to the market outlook for DRAM. As I mentioned earlier, we have seen early signs of bit demand recovery in most DRAM end markets. Based on our assessment of customer inventory improvement, we anticipate robust bit demand growth for the industry in the second half of the calendar year compared to the weak demand in the first half. Our review of calendar 2019 industry DRAM bit demand growth is in the mid-teens with industry supply growing mid to high teens. Despite early signs of recovery in DRAM bit demand that's a supply and resulting higher producer inventory levels have created a challenging pricing environment. We expect that the strengthening demand growth will begin to contribute to an improving trend in producer inventory later in calendar 2019.
Turning to our supply, at Micron our focus continues to be on taking prudent steps to help bring the DRAM market back to stabilization. We are continuing the previously announced wafer starts reductions of approximately 5%, which we expect will bring our DRAM bit supply growth for calendar 2019 close to market demand growth.
The overall NAND market remains over supplied from the accelerated supply growth driven by the industry transition from 2D NAND production to 3D NAND. Our NAND industry bit demand growth expectations for calendar 2019 are unchanged at the mid-30% range. We continue to target our bit shipments to be close to the industry demand growth rate.
Since our last earnings call, we have taken actions to further adjust wafer starts from the previously announced 5% reduction to now approximately 10%, which will result in lower supply growth in the second half of the calendar year. These reductions are the result of both capital optimizations to reuse more existing equipment for our 96-layer conversion as well as lowering some of our legacy NAND capacity, which we announced previously. While we still believe the NAND industry supply is growing above demand this year, the market is showing signs of increased elasticity stemming from recent price declines. We are optimistic that the overall NAND market will start to stabilize in the second half of calendar 2019.
With the higher levels of macro uncertainty and the relatively high levels of inventory on our balance sheet, we are taking decisive action to manage our DRAM and NAND bit production. In addition to the wafer start reductions that we discussed, we are also taking action on CapEx. Earlier this year, we announced a reduction in fiscal 2019 CapEx forecast from $10.5 billion plus or minus 5% at the start of the year to approximately $9 billion now. For fiscal 2020, we plan for CapEx to be meaningfully lower than fiscal 2019. While our CapEx plans are still being finalized, we seek to balance our manufacturing investments with our free cash flow objective.
I'll now turn it over to Dave to provide financial results of our fiscal third quarter and guidance for the fourth quarter.
David A. Zinsner--Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Thanks, Sanjay. Micron's fiscal third quarter results were within the guided revenue range and above the guided EPS range that we provided on our last call. We also generated healthy levels of free cash flow and made further progress on our share repurchase program. Total fiscal third quarter revenue of approximately $4.8 billion, was at the midpoint of our guidance range and was down 39% on a year-over-year basis and down 18% sequentially from the fiscal second quarter. Both DRAM and NAND revenue were negatively impacted by restriction on sales to Huawei without which we would have reached the high end of our revenue guidance.
DRAM revenue was approximately $3 billion, representing 64% of total revenue. DRAM revenue declined 45% year-over-year and 19% sequentially from the fiscal second quarter. Compared to the prior quarter, the DRAM ASP decline approached 20% while bit shipments were roughly flat. If not for the impact of Huawei, bit shipments in DRAM would have increased sequentially as we had guided on our last earnings call.
NAND revenue was approximately $1.5 billion, representing 31% of total revenue. NAND revenue declined 25% relative to fiscal third quarter 2018 and declined 18% sequentially from the fiscal second quarter. Overall NAND ASPs declined in the mid-teens percent range, while shipment quantities declined in the mid-single digit percent range compared to the prior quarter. Adjusting for the Huawei impact, bit shipments came in better than our expectation due to stronger component sales.
Now turning to our revenue trends by business unit. Revenue for the Compute and Networking business unit was $2.1 billion, down 48% year-over-year and 13% from the prior quarter. Lower pricing across major market segments continue to be the leading cause of lower revenue. However normalized customer inventory levels led to shipment volume growth in the fiscal third quarter, particularly in graphics and client.
Revenue for the mobile business unit was $1.2 billion, down 33% year-over-year and down 27% from the fiscal second quarter, due in part to lower shipments to Huawei. Lower pricing and DRAM volume drove the quarter-over-quarter decline. Our managed NAND portfolio continued to show strength in the fiscal third quarter, with bit shipments increasing by over 200% year-over-year.
The embedded business unit revenue of $700 million was down 22% from the prior year and down 12% from the fiscal second quarter. Revenue was adversely impacted by broad macroeconomic weakness weaker pricing and inventory adjustments in the consumer segment. Automotive and industrial, which represented almost 75% of EBU revenue, showed strong margin resilience with gross margins down only 300 basis points from the last fiscal quarter.
And finally, the storage business unit third quarter revenue was $813 million, down 29% year-over-year and down 20% quarter-over-quarter. The sequential decline was driven by competitive pricing and an unfavorable comparison on component volumes coming up a large one-time sale we completed in the prior fiscal quarter.
The consolidated gross margin for the fiscal third quarter was 39% compared to 61% in prior year and 50% in the fiscal second quarter. Lower pricing in both DRAM and NAND was the primary driver of the lower margin in the fiscal quarter. Gross margins were also negatively impacted by approximately 200 basis points, due to underutilization charges related to IMFT.
US tariffs on imports from China, were less than 30 basis point impact to gross margins, as we have successfully mitigated approximately 90% of the impact from tariffs. Fiscal third quarter NAND gross margins remained above 25%.
Operating expenses of $774 million were well within our guided range. As we've said on prior calls, our goal with OpEx is to remain disciplined with respect to expense control, while continuing to invest in future products and technologies throughout the market cycle. Operating expenses also benefited from the strong execution on qualification of our 1Z nanometer mobile DRAM product ahead of our internal schedule. We delivered solid profitability in the fiscal third quarter with operating income of $1.1 billion, representing 23% of revenue. This margin is down 28 percentage points year-over-year and down 13 percentage points from the fiscal second quarter.
Non-GAAP taxes included $162 million of benefits in the fiscal third quarter due to a favorable state tax law change and a change in our annual tax rate from 10.5% to 9%. Non-GAAP earnings per share in the fiscal third quarter was $1.05, down from $3.15 in the year ago quarter and down from $1.71 in the prior quarter. Fiscal third quarter non-GAAP EPS was $0.15 higher due to the $162 million of tax benefits.
Turning to cash flows and capital spending, we generated $2.7 billion in cash from operations in fiscal third quarter, representing 57% of revenues. Capital spending, net of third-party contributions, was approximately $2.2 billion, down from $2.4 billion in the prior quarter. We still expect fiscal 2019 CapEx at approximately $9 billion, however we expect meaningfully lower CapEx in fiscal 2020. In fiscal third quarter, our adjusted free cash flow, defined as cash flow from operations less net CapEx was approximately $500 million compared to $2.2 billion in the year ago quarter and $1 billion in fiscal second quarter.
We bought back approximately $157 million of stock in fiscal third quarter, representing 3.8 million shares. For the fiscal year-to-date, we've returned $2.7 billion to shareholders in the form of share buybacks, which represents approximately 70% of our year-to-date free cash flow. Combined with the redemptions of outstanding converts, we have reduced outstanding share count by over 8% since fiscal third quarter 2018. We will continue to prudently manage capital according to our philosophy of maintaining liquidity through-out the cycle, investing in capital assets to enable cost effective node transitions and back-end cost competitiveness, and returning over 50% of free cash flow to shareholders.
Inventory ended the quarter at $4.9 billion, increasing from $4.4 billion at the end of fiscal second quarter. The fiscal third quarter ended with 151 days of inventory outstanding, or 143 days using our average inventory balance for fiscal third quarter. As we mentioned on the last call, calendar 2020 NAND bit supply will be constrained as we make the transition to replacement gate. To meet expected bit demand growth, we are carrying higher levels of NAND inventory in calendar 2019 and 2020. We also project to carry higher than normal levels of DRAM inventory in calendar 2019 as industry supply and demand work toward getting into balance.
Total cash ended the quarter at $7.9 billion, down quarter-over-quarter, largely as a result of our $1.4 billion redemption of our Series G convertible notes announced last quarter and completed in the fiscal third quarter. Total liquidity exceeded $10 billion at quarter end, while we maintained a healthy balance sheet. In the quarter, we announced that the close of the IMFT joint venture acquisition will be October 31st, which is during our first fiscal first quarter of 2020. We expect to pay approximately $1.4 billion for Intel's share of IMFT. A portion of the payment will also be used to repay member debt financing, which at the end of fiscal third quarter was approximately $860 million.
Now turning to our financial outlook. Both the DRAM and NAND markets remain over supplied. Having said that, we are starting to see some signs of bit demand improvement. As Sanjay mentioned, we expect strong growth in our DRAM bit shipments for the cloud, graphics, and PC markets in fiscal fourth quarter, followed by more normal bit growth in the fiscal first quarter. In NAND, while the industry is benefiting from elasticity kicking in, our bit shipment growth in fiscal fourth quarter will be limited due to the ongoing transition of our SSD portfolio.
With that in mind, our non-GAAP guidance for fiscal fourth quarter is as follows. We expect revenue to be in the range of $4.5 billion, plus or minus $200 million; gross margin to be in the range of 29%, plus or minus 150 basis points; and operating expenses to be approximately $785 million, plus or minus $25 million. Based on a share count of approximately 1.13 billion fully diluted shares, we expect EPS to be $0.45, plus or minus $0.07.
In closing, despite the industry and geopolitical challenges, Micron continues to execute on our key initiatives and remains on strong financial footing. We will continue to draw on our strong relationships with our customers and manage through this cycle with a focus on gross margins and free cash flow.
I will now turn the call over to Sanjay for concluding remarks.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Dave. Clearly, fiscal 2019 has been challenging for both Micron and the industry. While we continue to believe that the industry is structurally stronger, the confluence of events that impacted this year was unprecedented. Still, we have fared better due to the tremendous progress we have made on improving our product costs, advancing our technology, and increasing the mix of high value solutions.
Recent industry financial results show that Micron's profitability and balance sheet are best-in-class. Having said that, we are not resting on our recent accomplishments and are continuing to raise the bar for ourselves. Our CapEx and expense controls reflect our focus on profitability and free cash flow. With the economic and trade challenges facing the industry, the near term continues to be uncertain. But looking beyond these challenges, I am excited about Micron's future. We are in the early innings of growth in cloud computing and the value of data in the new economy is going to drive secular growth in numerous memory and storage-intensive applications. AI, autonomous vehicles, 5G, and IoT will drive significant improvements in our lives, and we look forward to bringing the value of our innovative, market leading solutions to our customers.
In April, we issued our fourth annual sustainability report, which details Micron's commitment to enhancing the world we live in through our products and our business practices. We achieved perfect scores on industry standard environmental and social audits of our facilities in 2018 and 2019. Our ongoing focus and improvements in sustainable practices is a competitive differentiator for both our customers and our employees, and an important part of the transformation we are driving at Micron. I am energized by the potential ahead of us and proud of the culture of innovation and execution that we are building.
We will now open for questions.
Operator
Thank you. (Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of CJ Muse of Evercore. Your line is open.
CJ Muse--Evercore -- Analyst
Yeah good afternoon and thank you for taking the question. I guess first question, I was hoping you could provide a little more granularity on Huawei. You talked about the ability to sell subset of products. Can you walk through, I guess where you're allowed where you're not, they are I believe a 13% customer at least last quarter fiscal year. What kind of impact do you expect as we proceed in the coming quarters across both DRAM and NAND?
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
So as I said in my prepared remarks, after the Huawei was placed on entity list, we began a review of our products against the export administration required regulations and through that analysis, we determined that certain of our products, a subset of our products that we were previously shipping to Huawei could continue to ship because it is lawful it is compliant to those export regulations.
And you know of course, it had impact as Dave noted. In our FQ3, it had an impact because we could not ship at that time any product to them of nearly $200 million. And for FQ4, there would be impact to our revenue. What I would say is that our revenue with Huawei in FQ4 would be less than what it otherwise would have been if Huawei was not on the entity listing.
And of course, as we look ahead beyond FQ4, if Huawei continues to be on the entity list then in fiscal year '20 as well we would have an impact compared to what our revenue with Huawei would have been if they were not on the entity listing. Of course, we are a supplier to all customers in all end markets across the globe and we will -- and our presence with several of those other customers is growing in terms of our penetration there, in terms of our share there. And we will continue to work on adjusting those, but we would not be able to make up in fiscal year '20 if this were to continue the full shortfall and all though we plan to make a part of it through other parts of the business.
CJ Muse--Evercore -- Analyst
That's very helpful. And if I could --.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
And it affects both our DRAM as well as the NAND side of the business.
CJ Muse--Evercore -- Analyst
Okay, thank you. And if I could follow up on CapEx, you talked about a meaningful cut. I guess, is meaningful meaning (inaudible) territory? And as part of that, is it more focused on DRAM, NAND, both, how should we think about the implications there? Thank you.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
So with respect to CapEx, we have said meaningful reduction in CapEx from the fiscal year 2019 levels. And we will provide more details in the next call as we finalize our plans. Of course, our goal is to have our long-term considerations in mind with respect to technology and product cost capability, but most importantly to have our supply bit growth aligned with our expectations of demand bit growth. And when we look at supply bit growth, of course, we keep in mind the inventory that we are carrying from fiscal year '19 into fiscal year '20 for both DRAM as well as NAND, which will help us supply some of the demand requirement in fiscal year '20 and enable us to reduce our CapEx requirements in fiscal year '20 and our CapEx management, of course, applies to both NAND as well as DRAM.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mark Newman of Bernstein. Your question please.
Mark Newman--Bernstein -- Analyst
Yeah, hi. Thanks for taking my call, taking my question. And the first question really following on Huawei, can you give a little bit more quantification on how much the 13% or so revenue you expect you will be able to continue to export to Huawei? And can you give us some guidance also for your bit growth for this next quarter? I don't think you have mentioned that yet on the earnings -- on the guidance, if you can mention about your expectation for bit growth for the following quarter? And I have a follow-up question. Thanks.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
So with respect to Huawei, as I've said before our revenue expectation in fiscal Q4 is less than what it would have been without Huawei being on the entity list. Beyond that we don't really get into specifics in terms of revenue etcetera on a customer by customer basis. Of course, our revenue expectation with Huawei is baked into the guidance, revenue guidance that Dave provided for FQ4 of $4.5 billion plus or minus $200 million.
And your second question, with respect to --.
David A. Zinsner--Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
So on DRAM bit growth, we said it would be up meaningfully in the fourth quarter, NAND will be more modest given the environment.
Mark Newman--Bernstein -- Analyst
Okay. Thanks, thanks very much Dave and Sanjay. My final question is really taking a step back and looking at the industry, you know clearly it has been the quite challenging year, this year with the over supply, but just looking forward to 2020 with the pretty severe cuts, you guys are making on utilization and CapEx and with similar cuts from some of your competitors in Asia. I'm just curious what you think for next year, I guess it very much depends on the economic outlook, which is a little bit unpredictable at the moment but looking forward to 2020, do you not think that there could be a danger of potential under supply at some point next year? I'm just curious how you're thinking about that because to me, this level of utilization and CapEx, it seems like inevitably there will be a period of under supply coming, just a matter of time.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
So as we have said, the industry is in oversupply right now, both in DRAM as well as in NAND. And while demand is increasing in the second half both for NAND and DRAM, the oversupply situation does persist and we have talked about in DRAM, challenging pricing environment and therefore it's important that CapEx cuts are made as well as supply bit growth has managed to bring the supply bit growth in line with the demand growth as well as over time to bring inventories in line with expectations as well. So we are not providing fiscal year '20 guidance at this point, but all of the actions that we are taking here are really targeted to restore the industry demand and supply balance over the course of next few quarters.
Mark Newman--Bernstein -- Analyst
Thanks.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of John Pitzer of Credit Suisse. Your line is open.
John Pitzer--Credit Suisse -- Analyst
Yes, thanks for letting me ask the questions. Sanjay, congratulations on the solid execution given the industry conditions.
Just going back to the CapEx questions, I would argue Sanjay that one of the biggest strategic initiatives you had has been to try to close the cost gap with your peers. And clearly CapEx is a pretty important tool in which to do that, you guys are sort of bucking the trend this fiscal year with CapEx actually up slightly versus peers that have actually taken it down. I'm just kind of curious, help us get some comfort level that despite the cuts you're talking about for the fiscal year '20 you're still very much on plan relative to closing those cost gaps with your peers?
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
So, certainly as you noted, we have made tremendous improvement in our cost position and with respect to our peers and that reflects in our financial performance. As was noted in the prepared remarks, our margin improvement, relative margin improvement from previous times has really improved by 2000 basis points and that's because of our execution on the cost front as well as on the execution on the high value solutions front. And of course we have more room to go with respect to cost competitiveness as well as strengthening our high value solutions portfolio.
So we are extremely focused on this and you know as we look at driving our future opportunities, we of course when we make our CapEx decisions, we make them based on cost competitiveness off our supply in the future and of course, keeping in mind our free cash flow considerations and most important is that our total supply available to us coming from our inventory and coming from our supply bit growth should be matching with our demand expectations going forward over the course of next few quarters and to continue to improve our inventory position.
But on the cost side, we feel very good about the 1Y and 1Z progress on DRAM as well as we feel good about our 96-layer. And overall, even with the CapEx reductions that we are talking about, we'll be in a good position with respect to cost both in DRAM and NAND next year. Of course we have talked about in NAND, our first generation replacement gate node will be a small node, in the sense that it will be deployed across a small set of products and we will not have any significant cost benefit from that first generation replacement gate node, but the second generation replacement gate node will give us meaningful cost benefit compared to the last generations of floating gate node. So we absolutely are on top of the game in terms of managing to our cost objectives.
David A. Zinsner--Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
I'd just add that. Sanjay already mentioned this drive to high value solutions in other way we can improve our gross margins, but also -- node transitions isn't the only way we affect the cost of the product and so one example is, for example, the back-end we're very acutely focused on the back-end we are bringing some of that activity that we were doing that was being outsourced internally. We think we can improve our cost structure in that regard to. So there are many ways we can drive the cost to improve it.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
And one thing I would add is, in terms of our overall CapEx that you mentioned, of course, as you know that in fiscal year '19 we had meaningful part of our CapEx around $2 billion that was actually tied to facilities, cleanroom expansions to enable technology transitions. And this facility spend, may not be the same from one manufacturer to the other manufacturers, but for us that was a meaningful part. Again, as noted in our remarks before, to prepare us for technology transitions and not targeting any of that cleanroom space for any meaningful capacity but really for technology transition.
John Pitzer--Credit Suisse -- Analyst
Thanks very much Sanjay. And then David, just on inventory, it's clearly a key metric that investors are looking at. I'm kind of curious is how we should think about inventory levels exiting the fiscal fourth quarter? And as you answer the question, clearly the inventory is somewhat a reflection of where we are in the cycle, but you've got sort of the added burden of wanting to build some NAND inventory as you make this transition to replacement gate. So how would inventories look if you sort of normalize for that?
And then lastly as part of the question, I apologize, utilization coming down, CapEx coming down is a good way of controlling inventory, so was the potential for writedowns. Can you just talk about how you're thinking about the value of the inventory in this sort of environment?
David A. Zinsner--Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
A three-part question, John. Okay, so the inventories, obviously are elevated right now. As you point out, one of the big drivers of our increased inventory level is in NAND. And that is kind of by design for us. We are trying to build up some inventory going into 2020, fiscal 2020 for us because we are going to make this transition to replacement gate. Replacement gate doesn't drive very much bit growth for us in the first node in replacement gate. And so we'll need to draw on our inventory in order to meet demand, and that's -- I don't know the exact number, but that's a decent chunk of the (inaudible) in terms of days.
The other aspect of the elevated level of inventory is in DRAM. That was a little bit more a function of pretty good bit growth in the first couple of quarters of the calendar year of 2019 and of course we had had customers working down their inventories and so inventory was building up in our balance sheet. We do expect now that we're in a place, Sanjay mentioned that we're seeing inventories get to be in a good place in the cloud space, in the graphic space, in the PC space. And so we would expect to start to see inventories start to come down now. We think we'll be in a relatively good spot by the end of the calendar year, may not be at quote unquote optimal levels, but certainly in a healthier place and then quick quickly after that I would expect DRAM to be in a good place.
From a write down perspective, we did write down about $40 million of inventory this quarter specific to Huawei. We finished goods inventory with Huawei that does not look like that's going to get sold, so we did reserve that. Outside of that, from a kind of an obsolescence perspective, we don't see really any risk with the inventory we're carrying. We think it's very good inventory, it got a good cost position, very good demand with that inventory. So unlikely to have any issue as it relates to obsolescence.
The other of course area, you have to concern yourself with is the, any sort of lower cost to market issue with the inventory. I think you can kind of guess by the quality of our gross margins that we are not really in danger of having any writedown associated with lower cost to market. So outside of these kind of one-off issues that we deal with from time to time, like we did with Huawei this quarter I don't really see a big issue with inventory in terms of writedowns or reserves.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
So before going to the next question, I just wanted to make a small correction. In the prepared comments, I mentioned that QLC shipment were up approximately 75%, I meant to say that QLC bit shipments were up 75% quarter-over-quarter. So just wanted to make that correction. And now I think we can move on to the next question.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Ambrish Srivastava of BMO Capital. Your question please.
Ambrish Srivastava--BMO Capital -- Analyst
Hi, thank you very much. Sanjay, good to see the discipline here on the CapEx and also with days focus on free cash flow. I was just a little confused, I want to make sure I understood this. If we go -- and I appreciate that you don't want to talk about any specific customer, but if you go back to the reported last two quarters and if you triangulate that if you exclude Huawei that will mean that bit shipments would be at best up single-digit. So the question is in your CapEx thinking for fiscal '20, how are you handicapping the Huawei impact? Are you expecting this to continue to be on that list and hence your CapEx, lower CapEx includes a certain amount of capacity being taken offline because of that, what's the right way to think about it? And then I had a quick follow-up.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
So I think we will be able to provide you more details related to fiscal year '20 CapEx etcetera in our next earnings call. I would just point out that there is obviously considerable uncertainty here. As you can all see from the rather fluid situation with respect to Huawei as well as with respect to US, China trade matters and of course we are just staying focused on optimizing what we can control, and really remaining nimble in our actions. You have seen that how over the course of last one year we have for fiscal year '19 managed our CapEx down from $10.5 billion plus, minus 5% to $9 billion now. So we continue to stay vigilant and we are making decisive actions with respect to meaningful CapEx reductions in fiscal year '20. But with respect to the further details, we will be in a better position to provide you information at the next earnings call.
Ambrish Srivastava--BMO Capital -- Analyst
Okay, I appreciate that Sanjay. And then as a quick follow-up, and it's not a multi-part day for you, what's the AR or DSO target that we should be thinking about as we go through the next couple of quarters? Thank you.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. So, it got up there and we did kind of work it down this quarter. I think we got it down to about 62 days. I would say ideally, it should be in the 50s, it was a little bit of a mix challenge this quarter that kind of drove it up a bit. And there is a couple of customers that have extended terms and they kind of hit us at that point, but ideally, we'd like to be somewhere in the mid 50s.
Ambrish Srivastava--BMO Capital -- Analyst
Okay, thank you. Good luck.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Chris Danely of Citi. Your question please.
Chris Danely--Citi -- Analyst
Thanks guys. You said you've mitigated 90% of the tariff so far. Now we're looking at another $300 billion in tariffs. Can you estimate the approximate impact to your business if that goes through?
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
I would say that as we of course, we don't know for sure what the list looks like. We have a general sense based on what we've seen there is minimal impact from the incremental list. Most of what affects us was contemplated in the first two 1A, 1B, and then the second list.
Chris Danely--Citi -- Analyst
Got it. And then for my follow-up. Sanjay talked about 5G and the big driver with the Huawei issue is that impacting the development of 5G, have you seen any change in like the ongoing development of the standards out there?
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
So I think it is too soon to tell. And keep in mind that in certain countries 5G already started to be deployed, such as Korea and there are of course leading suppliers, other than Huawei as well for 5G. So it remain to be seen how this deployment occurs over the course of next few quarters, in particular here. But there is no doubt that you know 5G will bring about greater applications for memory and storage, not only in smartphones, but also in machine-to-machine on the IoT front. And all of this will drive greater demand for memory and storage and we remain absolutely well prepared, of course, in a flexible fashion to meet the growing demand requirements for the business. That 5G, we think will provide over the course of next many years. But near term, in terms of exactly what happens with respect to Huawei aspects, I think really it is too soon to tell.
Chris Danely--Citi -- Analyst
Okay, thanks a lot guys.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from Harlan Sur of JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Harlan Sur--JPMorgan -- Analyst
Good afternoon and thanks for taking my question. In DRAM, given the transition to 1Y and early 1Z move, can you guys just help us understand qualitatively your cost reduction profile as you move to the second half of this calendar year? Maybe compare that versus the cost downs in the first half of this year.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
With respect to the cost declines, of course, we are continuing to execute well with respect to our nodes transitions as well as continuing to drive cost declines the 1Y and 1Z nodes that you talked about, and we are on plan in terms of ramping up these nodes notes as well. And as I said before, we don't break out the cost reductions on first half versus second half. Of course, our expectations of cost reductions are baked into for FQ4, the gross margin guidance, as well as of course that takes into account our price decline assumptions as well for FQ4.
So all of that is really baked into it we don't break it down, but keep in mind that as the new technology nodes advance, the cost reduction coming from new technology nodes is less and less compared to the prior nodes just because as we have explained several times before they naturally give you -- given the challenges of scaling less per wafer bit growth capability and less cost reduction capability.
Harlan Sur--JPMorgan -- Analyst
Yeah, thanks for the insights there. And then back in April, the team announced its 9300 series NVMe, this is your new cloud in enterprise, the SSD family. I think you guys have had solid momentum in cloud and enterprise with your SATA family and that's help to sustain a better margin profile for the NAND business. So what's the design win momentum been like on the 9300 series and when do you anticipate your cloud customers to start ramping these new NVMe products? Thank you.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
As we have discussed in the past that we would be introducing over the course of our fiscal year 2019, actually during calendar year 2019, our NVMe products and we started that first with consumer NVMe and later with our OEM NVMe that we talked about today. And now also for cloud and enterprise applications NVMe drive and these will take some period of time over the course of next few months in terms of getting qualified by customers, in terms of gaining traction with customers and that's why we had mentioned that 2019 will basically be a year of transition for us from SATA to NVMe.
I just want to remind you that couple of years ago, Micron did not actually have investments in NVMe product development. We did very well and are continuing to do very well in SATA as you noted, and we began to significantly increase our investments in NVMe product development couple of years ago, and it takes a while to have these products in the marketplace. So in 2020, as our NVMe solutions get adopted by our customers and as we ramp those into production we do expect to be gaining share with NVMe all throughout the 2020 timeframe.
Harlan Sur--JPMorgan -- Analyst
Thanks Sanjay.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Timothy Arcuri of UBS. Your question please.
Timothy Arcuri--UBS -- Analyst
And that's been asked a couple of times. And I'm just trying to figure out how lower CapEx, you're going to cut CapEx by a couple of billion and you're certainly cutting wafer starts quite a bit, how that does ultimately have some negative impact on your costs? I think you've been costing down in DRAM, maybe low to mid teens and the expectation was that you'd be down somewhere -- in 2020 would be kind of another good year for DRAM cost downs and you've been down kind of like mid 20s in NAND. So, yet it sounds like you're saying that it does not having much of an effect on your costs, so I'm just trying to fit those two things? Thank you.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
No, I'm not saying that it will not have effect on cost. What I'm saying is that we will be in good position with cost because our technologies -- underlying technologies, give us good cost reduction capabilities from one node to the next node. Overall, from our cost point of view, we'll be in good position and for NAND I'll just remind you that you know our CMOS under the array technology gives us the smallest die size in the industry and that has meaningful implications with respect to the cost competitiveness that we have. So overall, we feel good about the technology and the production mix that we will be driving through the remainder of fiscal year '19 as well as through fiscal year 2020 in terms of meeting our demand expectations as well as remaining cost competitive.
Timothy Arcuri--UBS -- Analyst
Thanks for that. And then I guess just related to that maybe Dave, can you maybe break down CapEx sort of how much is building versus equipment, it sounds like there is roughly 2 billion that was buildings this year in fiscal '19. Is the cut next year going to be almost all in infrastructure so that WFE is kind of flat to down smidge, year-over-year. Is that kind of how to think about it? Thanks.
David A. Zinsner--Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
So getting back to the FY19 just to be clear, what Sanjay said was about $2 billion was kind of construction related spend, the rest is front-end and back-end. So there is some -- and some miscellaneous capital spend for R&D group and so forth. So there is more to it than even that. I'll be honest with you, we have not, you kind of completely finalized CapEx budget for next year. We have a pretty good sense of directionally where it is going, but all the pieces specifically were not quite there yet. And so what we'd like to do is wait and give you more granularity around that in the next quarter's call. But I would anticipate that both areas would have some reduction to them.
Timothy Arcuri--UBS -- Analyst
Okay, awesome. Thanks.
Operator
Our next question comes from Blayne Curtis of Barclays. Your line is open.
Blayne Curtis--Barclays -- Analyst
Hey guys, thanks for taking my question. Sort of follow up on the Huawei point. Just want to make sure I understood what you're saying. Are you able to ship because the IP resides in another country. Just trying to understand how exactly are you able to continue to ship? And then just kind of curious as you look out, I'm sure there's going to be some components that go into these phones from other vendors that don't have an ability to ship, so I'm kind of just curious your thoughts on kind of downstream impacts and whether you've encapsulated all that?
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
So with respect to what we are able to ship to Huawei, as I said before that what we are able to ship is what is not under the export administration regulations. And that's what we are able to ship and actually export administration regulations have various complex aspects and considerations several criteria that you have to go through if you're interested in that, you can certainly go to the BIS site and look for those and we assess our products versus those and you know these considerations are not just limited to any one or two aspects such as what you mentioned, I mean they have several aspects and we assess our products that we can ship to Huawei versus those and have made determination or shipments and we, as we said, we began those shipments in last two weeks.
And with respect to your question around other component etcetera, of course this is a company by company decision and each company has to evaluate its own situation and obviously Huawei has to look at its own supply chain. So with respect to the products that we can ship to them, we work closely with them to understand what is their latest demand on those products And that is what is baked into our FQ4 guidance.
What I would like to point out here is that at the end of the day since you asked the question about mobile phones. The smartphone demand overall from consumers point of view is really going to be the same. I mean, consumers are going to be buying the phones that they're going to buy, based on the features, the new models, all of that will be bought there may be some share shift that maybe occurring between the various suppliers of smartphones and as you know, we are well engaged with customers across the smartphone ecosystem as a supplier to them. Of course, you know Huawei was our number one customer, we continue to engage with other customers as well. And we have had growing presence with those other customers and we'll continue to look for opportunities to best optimize our business while always of course continuing to comply with US laws and regulations and for that matter we always comply with laws and regulations in all countries that we operate in.
Blayne Curtis--Barclays -- Analyst
Thanks. And then I just wanted to ask you on the cloud data center, obviously an important segment and you did have some encouraging comments, just kind of curious on that pace of recovery maybe versus what you had thought a quarter ago, just kind of the health of the channel in the pace of recovery there. Thanks.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
Pace of recovery --.
David A. Zinsner--Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
In cloud and data center.
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
For cloud and data center. I mean, as we said I think cloud customers as well as several other customers had operated with high levels of inventory in the starting late last year and through the course of first half of this year those inventory levels have been largely worked to normal levels. Except for in enterprise, as we noted in our prepared remarks and we look forward to robust growth in fiscal fourth quarter in the area of cloud and you know we are, of course, continuing to broaden our product portfolio as well with solutions such as NVMe solutions and that will bring us bigger opportunities in the future as well.
Blayne Curtis--Barclays -- Analyst
Okay.
Operator
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation and have a wonderful day. You may disconnect your lines at this time.
Duration: 62 minutes
Farhan Ahmad--Head of Investor Relations
Sanjay Mehrotra--President and Chief Executive Officer
David A. Zinsner--Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
CJ Muse--Evercore -- Analyst
Mark Newman--Bernstein -- Analyst
John Pitzer--Credit Suisse -- Analyst
Ambrish Srivastava--BMO Capital -- Analyst
Chris Danely--Citi -- Analyst
Harlan Sur--JPMorgan -- Analyst
Timothy Arcuri--UBS -- Analyst
Blayne Curtis--Barclays -- Analyst
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Fedex Corp (FDX) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Transcript
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Fedex Corp(NYSE: FDX)Q4 2019 Earnings CallJun 25, 2019,5:30 p.m. ET
• Prepared Remarks
• Questions and Answers
• Call Participants
Operator
Good day, everyone, and welcome to the FedEx Corporation Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2019 Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, I will turn the call over to Mickey Foster, Vice President of Investor Relations for FedEx Corporation. Please go ahead.
Mickey Foster--Vice President of Investor Relations
Good afternoon, and welcome to FedEx Corporation's fourth quarter earnings conference call. The fourth quarter earnings release and stat book are on our website at fedex.com. This call is being streamed from our website where the replay will be available for about one year. Joining us on the call today are members of the media. During our question-and-answer session, callers will be limited to one question in order to allow us to accommodate all those who would like to participate. I want to remind all listeners that FedEx Corporation desires to take advantage of the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.
Certain statements in this conference call, such as projections regarding future performance may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For additional information on these factors, please refer to our press releases and filings with the SEC. Please refer to the Investor Relations portion of our website at fedex.com for a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures discussed on this call to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.
Joining us on the call today are Fred Smith, Chairman; Raj Subramaniam, President and Chief Operating Officers ; Alan Graf, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer ; Mark Allen, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary; Rob Carter, Executive Vice President, FedEx Information Services and CIO; Brie Carere, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer.
And now, Fred Smith will share his views on the quarter.
Frederick W. Smith--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you very much, Mickey. Welcome to all joining our quarterly call. Fiscal 2019 was a year of both challenge and change for FedEx. We faced weakening international revenue growth driven by the slowdown in global trade, the less favorable service mix of TNT Express business after the NotPetya cyberattack and continued rapid growth of e-commerce demand. We're very proud of our team members who are responding with positive actions and innovative solutions that will make FedEx even stronger and more successful in the future.
FedEx enters fiscal 2020 with a sharp focus on extending our lead as the premier global transport and logistics company and on making the necessary investments today to capture the significant market opportunities we see for the future. These steps include enhancing FedEx Ground capabilities, speed and efficiency, improving FedEx Express hub automation particularly in Memphis and Indianapolis, finishing the integration of TNT, modernizing our aircraft fleet and reducing unit cost and increasing productivity, especially for e-commerce deliveries. While these investments are long term in nature and their success cannot always be measured immediately, we are confident they will drive significant earnings growth and improved margins and cash flows and returns for our shareholders over the long haul.
Let me emphasize, however, that based on our current forecast of US GDP growth for FY '20, we anticipate FedEx Freight will increase earnings and margin over the period. We believe FedEx Ground will increase earnings for the fiscal year with modest if any margin compression from current levels despite the investments we've announced such as six- and seven-day per week delivery, large package capabilities and in-sourcing of SmartPost.
Global trade disputes and low global growth rates create significant uncertainty for the Express business, leading us to be cautious and projecting FY'20 earnings for this segment. The integration of TNT is now progressing at a good clip and we will see significant benefits by this time in summer 2021. Major focus of our investment strategy I should note is also improved sustainability and efficiency. We intend to substantially grow our e-commerce business and are well aware improved profitability in this market requires greater efficiency and delivering residential packages, and we have sound initiatives to steadily improve our cost to serve this market. With these ends, for example, we've recently announced in sourcing 2 million SmartPost packages and an agreement with Dollar General for over 8,000 pickup and delivery on-site locations in sparsely populated in rural areas. Over FY '20, we will announce several additional initiatives in this regard
Let me also caution observers who follow FedEx in this industry to be very careful extrapolating past assumptions and trends into the future. For instance, we've noted repeatedly short-haul package delivery will become increasingly important as retailers ship e-commerce orders from store or local fulfillment. Hence average yields have to be matched with operational changes not visible to most to access -- to assure potential future profitability. Also, future developments and speeding up e-commerce deliveries and postal reform, which by the way we have supported, will likely be discontinuities in the next several years. FedEx is uniquely positioned for long-term success and will continue to deliver a great future for our customers, care owners, team members and the communities we serve.
Let me now turn to Raj followed by Brie and Alan and then a brief comment by Mark Allen and then we'll take questions. Raj?
Rajesh Subramaniam--President and Chief Operating Officer
Thank you, Fred, and good afternoon. As mentioned on the last call, our focus is long-term profitable growth that drives increased shareholder value. Fiscal year '20 is in many ways a transition year for FedEx as we continue to reinvigorate our business to capitalize on e-commerce growth and execute significant initiatives to reduce our cost to serve. In the US alone, we expect the parcel market to double in size to more than 100 million packages per day by 2026. As the market grows so too our abilities and offering -- capabilities and offerings. Our global network serves as the invisible backbone for the fast, easy and reliable e-commerce experience that consumers demand today and we continuously build upon our offerings to customers.
One way we are doing so is by strategically working with retailers to enable market-leading value propositions. This includes working with target to leverage their stores as local fulfillment centers through our FedEx Extra Hours offering and giving our customers access to a multitude of FedEx drop-off and pickup services such as last week's announcement with Dollar General. These are just a few examples of the ways we continue to flex our operations and network to respond to our customers.
Brie will cover these capabilities among others in more detail. It is clear that we are all in on e-commerce. This commitment is illustrated by a number of key strategic initiatives well under way in our operating units. Just last month, we announced a number of innovative solutions for our FedEx Ground network. This includes seven-day a week residential delivery, rapidly integrating FedEx SmartPost volume into standard ground operations and enhancing network around large package handling. These changes directly address some of the key challenges inherent with e-commerce, namely increasing consumer expectations and managing the cost for residential delivery.
Bringing the SmartPost volume into the ground network allows us to improve density and efficiency in the last-mile deliveries. It is significant that we are engineering and enhancing the ground network in such a way that it will be more cost effective to deliver millions of residential packages a day, directly by FedEx Ground. In fact, we expect FedEx Ground to become the low-cost last-mile provider in the industry.
The recent round announcement should be particularly exciting to online consumers who purchase large items like furniture, TVs, and Kayaks with the click of a button. We expect to have a large package operation in nearly 40 ground facilities prior to our peak season. The vast majority of these are existing facilities and this approach minimizes CapEx and enable us to focus on placing large package handling in the more strategic locations such as near ports and railroads.
Not one element of this transformation will be possible without the investments that FedEx Ground has been making and continues to make in technology, advancements in loading, sorting and scanning technologies will provide near real-time data. It will help optimize operations for maximizing the use of rail, improving delivery density and increasing the efficiency of handling all packages, no matter the size.
These types of technological enhancement and state-of-the-art tools are true differentiators and are being implemented all across the FedEx operations, not just FedEx Ground.
FedEx Freight for example, is in the midst of modernizing an industry that has been historically paper-based. Technology advancements like advanced forklifts computers, electronic shipping labels and advanced driver assist systems, allow our team members to work smart, safer and more efficiently. This evolution of automation, that's a step for continued long-term success.
At FedEx Express, we are implementing initiatives focused on lowering our cost-to-serve in the US. This includes rightsizing the network as we prepare for future growth. To accommodate this growth, we have launched multi-year hub modernization efforts at two of our largest Express hubs, Memphis and Indi. These investments will enable Express to handle more volume more efficiently.
Internationally, the global trade picture is less than ideal, but we are confident in our long-term position. We are rapidly moving forward with the integration of TNT. As expected, we began FY '20 with a global sales force that's 98% integrated, positioning us with a single face to our customers in nearly every market worldwide. We have recently completed on-schedule, the rollout of our capabilities to inject legacy FedEx Express into our European shipments into the TNT European road network.
We expect to be substantially complete with the operational integration by the end of fiscal year '20. This will allow interoperability between the TNT and Legacy Express networks and in turn results in faster service for customers at a lower cost. Beyond fiscal year '20 or work will continue with key initiatives including customer migration, air network integration and product rationalization.
The various areas, I've touched on today position FedEx to be future ready. We are focused on the long-term, and I am humbled by the ongoing commitment, dedication and innovation by our more than 450,000 team members around the world.
Now I will turn it over to Brie to provide more details on our macro view, revenue quality and additional growth initiatives. Brie?
Brie Carere--Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Thank you, Raj. Good afternoon, everyone. I'll open with our economic update and outlook and provide some commentary on broader industry trends and our growth priorities.
Overall US economic growth is holding up well with real GDP growing 3.1% in the first quarter of calendar year '19. However, the industrial sector has suffered from an inventory build up and increased trade tensions, through May manufacturing output was 1.5% off its December peak. For calendar year '19, we expect global economic growth to moderate as the developed world sees slower growth in both domestic and external factors weigh on emerging markets.
We expect services to continue to underpin global GDP growth. Global trade has slowed as trade frictions have exerted a negative impact on sentiment and of course, the manufacturing sector. As the Chinese economy has continued to decelerate, this has also impacted other Asian markets' export performance. China's exports, which grew almost 10% in 2018 have barely grown this year amid heightened trade tensions with the United States.
Outlook for the European economies remain slow due to a number of sector and country specific factors such as disruptions in the auto manufacturing sector, social tensions, policy uncertainty as well as uncertainty related to Brexit.
In Germany and Italy, which are two important markets for us, manufacturing output, which turned negative in November has continued to decline with April manufacturing output down 3.5% and 1.9% year-over-year in Germany and Italy, respectively.
As we have stressed before, tariffs are counterproductive to efforts that encourage business growth and expand global trade. Thankfully, however, we have a large and flexible global network that allows us to adjust and meet our customers' needs, when trade issues present challenges in certain markets.
As I mentioned on the last call, we remain laser focused on three key areas, international, e-commerce and small business. Despite macroeconomic headwinds that I just covered, our international commercial team is poised for growth. Sales integration, as Raj has mentioned, is essentially complete. Our European network is more reliable and faster than it has ever been. We have simplified our pricing structure and open the valve for e-commerce within Europe.
We've also created new pricing programs for our Asian team to sell into Europe as well as from Europe into Asia. This is the largest trade lane in the new world. E-commerce continues to be a driving force of total US domestic market growth. We are building our portfolio networking capacity to best serve thousands of retailers in this space. And we continue to differentiate, for example with the launch of the FedEx Seven-Day Service.
In 2020 FedEx Ground will deliver seven days a week year round for 80% of US GDP. This is truly a transformational move that builds upon the largest global commerce transportation network in the world to further serve the growing e-commerce market. We are already faster than the competition by at least one day in 25% of the lanes, this move will further speed up our network and allow us to continue to gain market share.
With the growth of e-commerce and consumer demand for flexible, safe and convenient delivery options, FedEx sought to provide unmatched access and create cost saving opportunities for customers. The recently announced alliance with Dollar General will provide access to FedEx services in places that customers have told us are very convenient in their daily lives. The alliance will provide more than 8,000 additional locations for customers to hold packages for pick up and drop off, pre-labeled packages, including of course pre-labeled returns.
Further, it will bring FedEx closer to the consumer than we have ever been before within five miles of over 90% of the United States population. Once the Dollar General rollout is complete, the number of retail locations providing staffed FedEx shipping will grow to over 27,000. We are incredibly excited that the access to FedEx service continues to improve, especially for e-commerce recipients in more rural, less populated areas of the United States.
This is a tremendous achievement, not just an increasing access, but also in creating cost saving opportunities for our customers and for FedEx. For instance, by choosing to ship packages directly to convenient FedEx retail locations, merchants can reduce cost of residential delivery surcharges. Delivery to our retail location eliminates weather-related damage or ports that helping to reduce customer service and replacement cost for retailers.
And for returns, drop-off at our retail locations result in higher pickup density and drive greater operational efficiency, making FedEx even more competitive in the returns market. We have a great returns growth opportunity that our competitive retail network now opens up for us.
Across all our priorities, we continue to be very focused on revenue management. While we see irrational pricing market, e-commerce will continue to put pressure on yields with lighter packages moving shorter distances. It is important to note that contrary to the erroneous and misinformed reporting in the Wall Street Journal on June 23, FedEx has made no recent pricing changes -- no pricing changes to our strategy. And we have certainly made no changes related to any one customer.
In fact, at Express, we have experienced strong growth from small and medium customers using our FedEx Express two-day product, following a strategic pricing change we made last year. And we anticipate the growth of this successful product to continue in FY '20. We are confident that our strategies will allow us to grow global volumes and revenues profitably.
Now, let me turn the call over to Alan for his remarks. Alan?
Alan B. Graf--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Brie, and good afternoon, everyone. FedEx Express fourth quarter operating income declined as weakness in global trade and industrial production drove a decline in our international priority revenue. Year-over-year comparisons were also impacted by an $85 million gain on the sale of a non-core business of TNT Express last year. To mitigate the weakness, we have undertaken several immediate cost containment actions, including significant reductions of variable incentive compensation, limiting hiring and discretionary spending and completing our US voluntary employee buyout program. Approximately 15,000 FedEx employees have left or will be voluntarily leaving the Company via the US employee buyout program by the end of FY '20; approximately 85% of those employees departed on May 31, 2019.
We incurred costs of $316 million during the fourth quarter associated with our business realignment activities. These costs related primarily to severance for employees who accepted voluntary buyouts. Business realignment activities, including the voluntary employee buyout, are expected to benefit FY '20 by approximately $240 million. By eliminating open positions, we expect to achieve our savings goal using less severance than we originally forecasted. TNT integration expenses were $84 million for the fourth quarter and $388 million for FY '19. As you heard from Raj, we are continuing to make good progress with our integration activities.
At FedEx Ground, we continue to see strong e-commerce volume growth in the fourth quarter. However, FedEx Ground income and margins were negatively impact by increased purchase transportation rates and the January launch of year-round six-day per week operations. FedEx Freight closed the year with another strong quarter despite weakening industrial production. Revenue per shipment increased 4%, operating income increased 15% and operating margin improved to 9.9%. Below the line, our non-cash mark-to-market retirement plan accounting adjustment of a net $3.9 billion loss was driven by a substantially lower discount rate, which contributed $1.8 billion through the loss, changes in actuarial assumptions, which significantly increased the liability, and lower-than-expected asset returns. FY '19 capital expenditures totaled $5.5 billion.
For fiscal 2020, we are targeting a mid-single digit percentage decrease in adjusted earnings per share. Our performance has been negatively affected by continued weakness in global trade and industrial production, as well as the near-term impact of certain strategic decisions we have made to sustain our leading position in a changing marketplace. At FedEx Express we expect earnings to be down in FY '20 due to weakness in international priority revenue and ongoing shift to lower-yielding services. Our strategic decision to not renew the FedEx Express US domestic contract with Amazon will also be a near-term headwind, which we expect to reverse to a positive in FY '21, as we replace the lost volume and optimize the network.
Additionally, we do not expect a significant benefit from the fuel surcharge table changes in FY '19 to repeat in FY '20. FedEx Express will continue to implement actions to reduce cost to serve, improving efficiencies and adjusted to global network to match anticipated demand. While we expect to make significant progress on TNT integration activities in FY '20, integration work will continue in FY '21. We expect to incur approximately $350 million of integration expenses in FY '20 and $1.7 billion in total through FY '21.
At FedEx Ground, we expect volume and revenue growth to remain very strong in FY '20; however, operating margins will face headwinds from higher operating costs associated with expanding FedEx Ground delivery schedule, improving our capabilities for large packages and other investments to significantly improve efficiency and safety, as Raj mentioned. At FedEx Freight, we expect continued improved performance as we remain focused on improving revenue quality (inaudible) technology solutions that will drive efficiency and further differentiate us in the LTL market.
Our FY '20 effective tax rate prior to year-end mark-to-market retirement plan accounting adjustments is expected to increase to 23% to 25% and will likely vary from quarter-to-quarter. In addition, our tax rate is very sensitive to international income, which may cause the rate to vary from that range. FY '20 capital spending is expected to be $5.9 billion. These expenditures will include FedEx Express investments in aircraft and hub modernization, FedEx Ground investments that increase our efficiency in handling large packages, and investments in technology across the enterprise that will further optimize our networks and improve our competitiveness. All of these targets assume moderate US economic growth, current fuel price expectations and no further weakening in international economic conditions. A further ramping in any trade measures and/or adverse changes in international trade policies and relations would likely drive additional weakness in our business.
As I mentioned earlier, a substantial decline in discount rates, changes in actuarial assumptions, and lower-than-expected asset returns negatively impacted our FY '19 mark-to-market adjustments. With that, our US qualified pension plan funded status declined to approximately 90%. While we are not required to make a pension contribution FY '20, we are expecting to contribute $1 billion.
Also, we have funded large increases in our dividend and significant share repurchase over the last several years. Our stock buyback level is expected to be significantly lower in FY '20 and our dividend remains at $0.65 per quarter.
In conclusion, management is focused on improving our near-term performance while also positioning FedEx for long-term success. While we are adjusting cost to mitigate macro uncertainties and address the growth of e-commerce, we will continue to invest in areas that expand our capabilities and improve our long-term efficiencies. We are confident these investments will drive long-term earnings growth and improve margins, cash flows and returns.
Now, let me turn the call back over to Fred to introduce the topic Mark Allen is going to discuss.
Frederick W. Smith--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Alan. First, before I do that, let me take a point of personal privilege and mention something in the Wall Street Journal article yesterday, which I am uniquely qualified to speak to and it's the statement that I started the Express unit four decades ago to ferry shipments like legal documents and medical supplies over long distances. Facts to the matter are that when FedEx began operations, it was specifically prohibited for private carriers to move documents in any type. That was only permitted a number of years later when they were relaxation of the private express statutes in order to facilitate the fast movements of legal and financial documents. And rather than medical supplies, the Company was basically put together to pick up transport and deliver first overnight for many address in the US to any other address in the United States; technology packages, which was the basic market that we were serving.
Of course, we then added two-day express, we expanded internationally added pallets, and of course, today, we pick up and transport millions of items in the Express business on a far larger scale at a far, far lower price. Biggest issue on a go-forward basis and the article goes on to say that the express unit was built for e-commerce; reality is, it perfectly built for e-commerce with the exception that we have to address, as we've said on several of the remarks here including mine that we have to be very efficient in delivering to residential -- making residential deliveries, which are an increasing part of the traffic moving through both the Ground and the Express network.
So with that clarification, let me turn now to the subject of the lawsuit that we filed yesterday. There has been a considerable amount of misreporting on this as well number one, as that is related to the Huawei issue where we misrouted and then apologized for two packages and returned to the shipper erroneously a third. The Huawei packages were only peripherally involved in this lawsuit that we filed, and in fact, it goes back many, many years which in the lawsuit itself, and it concerns not contraband which many people have confused, the lawsuit as concerning. It concerns import and export controls as administered by the Department of Commerce. So we worked very hard with all kinds of law enforcement agency, as does the Postal Service and UPS, keep certain types of items out of our networks, illegal drugs, unlicensed firearms, you could go down the list, you can go and look at the prohibited items on our website, the Postal Service. This is not about prohibited items and contraband. It is about regulations that the Department of Commerce administers which prohibit entities meaning companies or individuals from exporting or importing.
And that's quite different and in many cases, they're either prohibited completely or they are restricted to various destinations or to various commodities or certain contents. In turn, that requires a common carrier like FedEx when one of these entities is put on the list to in essence certify, and in fact get a certificate from the shipper that basically lists (ph) what's in the package or in the in the shipment. And that's the issue that we are -- that we are dealing with here.
I note that that Secretary Ross who I have known for four decades and respect and like a lot, I'm pained by the fact that he issued a statement that disagrees with our position in the litigation, but as we told the Department of Commerce yesterday, we certainly understand their job and their implementation of the trade policy of the administration, this lawsuit doesn't speak to that at all. It speaks to the issues that our General Counsel will tell you about and after his remarks, we won't have any further comments on this as we'll let the process play out in the courts.
But Mark Allen, our General Counsel will make a statement.
Mark R. Allen--Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
The action that we filed yesterday in the Federal District Court in DC request of the government be permanently enjoining from enforcing the Export Administration Regulations against FedEx in circumstances where we have no actual knowledge that the contents of a shipment are subject to the EARs. The BIS takes the position that a common carrier like FedEx can be held liable for shipments that do not comply with the Export Administration Regulations, without requiring any evidence that the carrier had any actual knowledge of an apparent violation.
We believe very strongly that the imposition of this sort of strict liability is a clear violation of our constitutional due-process rights under the Fifth Amendment. We cannot know the contents of the 15 million packages we handle daily and whether those contents comply with the complex EARs. By requiring us to police the contents of packages moving through our global networks, the government is placing an unreasonable burden on a common carrier. We have reached out to Commerce to let them know of our commitment to compliance, however, we hope to reach an agreement on a common sense way forward. That would be creating a Safe Harbor that essentially means if we have no knowledge of an apparent violation, the BIS will not come after us.
Frederick W. Smith--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
So now, we'll take your questions, and (inaudible).
Operator
(Operator Instructions) And our first question today will come from Allison Landry with Credit Suisse.
Allison Landry--Credit Suisse -- Analyst
Thanks, good afternoon. So, you mentioned 2020 is a transition year for earnings and considering the bump in CapEx, clearly it's going to be difficult for you guys to generate cash this year. So I guess, do you expect any positive cash flow. And could you help us think through the, the longer-term cash generation of the business, as you think about 2021 and 2022? Thank you.
Alan B. Graf--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Allison. This is Alan. Yes, I do expect improved free cash flow in FY '20. And as far as it's been a transitional year, we -- I think explained it about as well as we could. So I look forward to pass that. I can't predict what's going to happen with trade, tariff, China, G20 and Brexit. So if you just set that aside that turns out well or decent, we got a lot of good guys and in '21 will have a seven-day ground operation running full speed, we'll have the benefits from a full TNT interoperability, we'll have lower US FedEx Express rural and residential cost, we'll have unbelievable improvement in ground productivity and growth, and we'll have continued freight growth and improved productivity.
So I think once we get through '20, we are going to be in fantastic shape with the global macro hanging over. As to our $5.9 billion the Company wanted to spend upwards of seven. We worked very hard to push up projects that I think will have good strategic returns, but a lot of really good things didn't make the cut. We have a lot of opportunities here, particularly on the cost side and we're going to attack them aggressively.
Operator
Our next question will come from Chris Wetherbee with Citi.
Chris Wetherbee--Citi -- Analyst
Hey, thanks, good afternoon. It looks, based on the guidance that you're calling for Express to be down from a profit perspective, maybe double-digits. Wanted to get a sense if you could maybe break out some of the cross-currents from trade and the macro and sort of what that impact might be on the core business and try to separate that out from some of the things that you're doing strategically with delivery as well as some of the late-night pickups and maybe some of the strategic decisions you've made around the customers. Any you can kind of parse-out some of the details in sort of that guided weakness in Express would be helpful?
Alan B. Graf--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Chris, Alan again. What we're looking at right now. As I just talked about in our fourth quarter, at Expressed where we had international priority revenue is actually down. That's hard to -- that's hard to recover from in a very short period of time. Again, I don't know what's going to play out here on trade and tariffs, so there could be some upside for that. But at the moment, I'm not seeing that.
Our load factors coming out of Asia (ph) are not really bad, but the yields are that good and it could be better. So I think the biggest issue is the macro. On the -- as far as what's going on with Express in the US, it's doing fine. I mean we had a great growth rate in our deferred traffic, which we went after intentionally, and we're going to get our cost structure in shape to improve the profitability of Express for that as well. So really, it's the macro, that's the biggest hangover for what we're looking at for FY '20.
Operator
And next we'll go to Jack Atkins with Stephens.
Jack Atkins--Stephens -- Analyst
Hey, good afternoon, thank you for the time. Could you provide some more details around the steps that you're taking to -- in your words, right-size your operations to better handle e-commerce. Do you foresee perhaps further changes in the business model in an effort to gain these efficiencies such as more closely integrating your ground and express operations? Thank you.
Frederick W. Smith--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
I don't recall who said right-size, did you Raj? Oh, optimize. Well, this is Smith here. I said in my remarks that we had made a number of announcements. I don't think anybody on this phone call knew a month ago that FedEx was going to announce seven-day a week service, 8,000 Dollar General locations, insourcing 2 million SmartPost packages. Building a number of large package annexes to exploit that business in ground, and then all the other things that Raj and Brie mentioned to you.
So please recall in my remarks, I basically said stay tuned, that there we'll be telling you some other things during this fiscal year. So we understand the issues involved in e-commerce and residential delivery, and Raj made the point specifically, we will be the low-cost producer in the e-commerce space for residential deliveries. We're quite confident of that from many perspectives.
But we're not prepared to tell you some of these other moves anymore than we were prepared to tell you a month ago about the things that I just pushed it off. But there will be other things that we will announce during FY '20 in this regard . You can count on it.
Operator
Our next question will come from Scott Group with Wolfe Research.
Scott Group--Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Hi, thanks, afternoon. So Alan, is there any way you can help us think about maybe the quarterly cadence of earnings -- just now obviously, we've got some weak trends right now, but then really tough incentive comps in the second half of the year, any help there. And then maybe just Fred, just following up on that is big picture, are you -- are there reasons why we could potentially consolidate Ground and Express networks from a delivery standpoint and then any update you can give us on the international buyout potential?
Alan B. Graf--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
That was three, Scott. So look, as to cadence, the tax rate is going to be really spotty. I mean, we've got some -- a lot of assumptions that we have to prove and get through. We're still looking at all these pages of interpretations and regs that are coming out, it's left and right. We're dealing with (inaudible) us from everybody that you follow and international is extremely complex. So tax rate is going to be a factor in our quarter-to-quarter numbers. Don't be surprised by that.
Secondarily, again, I just can't tell you what's going to happen from the global economic standpoint. So that piece of it, the cadence is going to be the cadence. It's a little bit out of our control. We'll manage to it, but we don't want to do anything stupid and then not have the capacity that we need in the right place. So we're watching that extremely carefully.
You asked Ground; they're going to have a great year. I mean, they really are, I mean, they're going to grow fast and if we're going to hold margins are get close to hold margins on this growth with all the expansion and all the investment that they're doing and improving productivity, they're going to be really (inaudible) in '21. They're going to have a great consistent year, so that's about all I can I can tell. The other thing is that people forget that there is a reason that Express has a two-day service, it's called distance. When we need an airplane, we need an airplane. The customer really decides, which network makes the delivery. I think we've explained this over and over and over again on the margin, yes, there's always opportunities, but for the most part, we've got to fly when we have to fly, but the customer can make that decision.
Operator
Amit Mehrotra from Deutsche Bank has our next question.
Amit Mehrotra--Deutsche Bank -- Analyst
Hi, thanks for taking my question Alan, you made the comment, I think in response to Allison's question the free cash flow would be better in fiscal '20. I am wondering if you could just help put a finer point in that based on the macro assumptions that the Company has made, and related to that the $1 billion pension contribution -- the voluntary pension contribution, I would imagine that that would be funded with new debt given the offsetting cash savings from the PBGC insurance premiums. And then, just related to that, if you can discuss the incremental costs in fiscal '20 associated with the seven-day delivery? Thanks so much.
Alan B. Graf--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Well, there'll be some incremental costs associated with some of the delivery, of course. We've been incurring them and we will continue to incur them but that now that we've gone to six-day, the seven-day leap (ph) is not nearly as significant. So those won't be material, but they probably will likely be a headwind, but I have to say, what I'm hearing from my team is that the customers are lining up to get the seven-day -- get the Sunday service and we're going to do it very efficiently, and I think we'll be able to start it in a very good way. So again, I'm excited about what's happening in that regard.
Operator
Our next question will come from David Ross with Stifel.
David Ross--Stifel. -- Analyst
Yes. Good afternoon. Just back on the TNT integration expenses, the total cost of $1.7 billion, about double what initially was. Can you remind us what that additional expenses for and is there a difference between network integration, which you said is going to be completed in the next year and network improvement or upgrade that need to be made to the TNT system?
Alan B. Graf--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Hi, David. Alan again. Not double. I will tell you a couple of things, one is that we originally gave you a $400 million number about NotPetya. That's an old number. That's never been updated, but it continues to be a problem for us in terms of integration, as we have to basically rebuild a system that TNT had and then integrate it with the network that we've got on the purple side, and it's cost us a lot more money and slowed it down and it's made it more complex. The good news on that side is that the interoperability will be done by the end of the fiscal year and that's when we can start really harvesting the benefits of that low-cost road network and flow the Express packages through it seamlessly without all kinds of double handling and double packaging and everything else. I mean, I will let Raj add to this.
Rajesh Subramaniam--President and Chief Operating Officer
Yes , I'll just say that there has been tremendous momentum in the last -- literally in the last few months on TNT integration. We have the vision of interoperability by the end of fiscal year '20 and ultimately one network for air and one network for Ground. It's a lot of value to be had here, but what I want to say here is that, we are not waiting to create value for the customers because of the customer value has been created as we speak. We are speeding up lanes and our service levels are very good and with -- the demand is strong. So I think we've made a lot of progress and the significant value in this investment it will come to bear fiscal '21 onwards.
Operator
And next we'll go to David Vernon with Bernstein.
David Vernon--Bernstein -- Analyst
Hi. Question for you Fred or Raj on the portfolio. Obviously, the expansion into the virtual kind of retail footprint with the partnerships with Dollar General, things like that. Is there a point where you may be look at the portfolio and say, why do we still have the services business, do you need that retail footprint, do you ever get to a point where you kind of rethink the composition of that part of the business?
Rajesh Subramaniam--President and Chief Operating Officer
I guess you're quite asking about the FedEx Office. I think it plays a very important role as part of our retail network, especially as we move forward on e-commerce, some of the premium value-added services on hold location plus return services -- and there are several things that we process through the FedEx Office as unique and differentiated and the value is going to get even better as the e-commerce trends increase. I don't know Brie if you want to add anything more to that?
Brie Carere--Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Yes. The only thing that I will add is, obviously , we're very excited about the expansion of our on-site retail partnerships with Walgreens and with Dollar General. The FedEx office retail locations bringing in some of our most profitable small and medium business because the experience they get when they are shipping internationally and when they were shipping and they want the peace of mind of proper packaging. That is absolutely just a stellar experience and those employees just deliver a great experience. So we're very committed to that element of the portfolio.
Rajesh Subramaniam--President and Chief Operating Officer
Yes. And don't forget these FedEx office location, the size of this FedEx offices are really substantial and it's a very -- it's an excellent place to conduct call e-commerce and as Brie pointed out, the most profitable packages for the FedEx system comes through the FedEx office network.
Frederick W. Smith--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
And we're expanding inside Walmart stores, which is becoming a great partnership, and Brie, thanks for mentioning profitability, I loved it.
Operator
Our next question will come from Brandon Oglenski with Barclays.
Brandon Oglenski--Barclays -- Analyst
Hi. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for taking my question. Mr. Smith, I really submit this question humbly as an analyst, has never run a business but I guess, at what point do we question the scale of the Express network because we've seen decade after decade of low returns, low margins; in peak economic activity, you guys can't put in a pretty good return, but you will never really crossing that threshold of covering the cost of capital. And on the call today, just looking at that the strategy is the same, put more capital, and optimize but not rightsize, I guess why not a more radical look at the business I think someone suggests a look at, integrating portions of Express or Ground or maybe even going more aggressively. Just on the overall footprint of the business. Can you talk to that please?
Frederick W. Smith--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Didn't you ask me the same question in the last analyst call or somebody else asked me a similar question. Look, I -- the only way I can respond to that is, obviously, the plans and the programs we put in place were designed to create superior returns. We didn't just decided to do it for the hell of it. And it reminds me a little bit about that all adage of Mike Tyson that, you know, everybody has got a plan until they get hit in the mouth. So one of the things that always amuses me about watching a lot of things that are written about FedEx and so forth, you know, the competition has a vote and the economy has a vote.
So clearly, we've been very disappointed over the last few years with the assumptions that we made on the growth in international trade, particularly with the Trump administration. The United States policy since 1934 with Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull was to expand international trade. And now we have a huge dispute where the United States is basically become protectionist defined as, I'll make everything, I need in my own borders. I don't need to import things and quite frankly don't particularly need to export them, despite the fact that 95% of the world's population is outside the United States.
So we have become a protectionist country. We don't agree with the Chinese position on trade either I've been very vocal about that, which is merchant (ph) dealers. I would like to sell to you, but I won't buy from you on a reciprocal basis.
So your question implies that, we have sat around and you said, quote for decades. We don't look at the business as a single segment, we've said that over and over again, you all deconstruct it into some degree, I sort of added in that today by making an exception saying we expected freight and ground to have earnings increases and margin increases in freight. And hopefully, any compression in ground due to the expansion will be very small.
So clearly as we go forward and things change of, if we don't resume any kind of international growth we would change our approach to the business, we don't have any sacred cows here. But you also have to remember in the Express business as Alan said, our domestic Express business is doing fine. It's not the issue, it's the international business that's having a problem for the reasons that, Brie, and now, I am saying to you.
Good news is that if traffic and yields materialize, the conversion rate to profitability is probably in the neighborhood of 60% because it's a network where the incremental volume goes to the bottom-line faster than any of our other activities.
In the case of TNT, I have to say I've been amazed not just with the people who follow FedEx in this industry, with the amazing dis-interest and NotPetya attack. It was the largest single attack by a state-sponsored entity in the history of the world. It has put the Ukraine on its knees. The only reason that it was less of a factor to us than it was because of the fantastic work of our IT team that went and remediated it. Had it not been that TNT had been subsidiary of FedEx, the Company would have been bankrupt. It would you just gone out of out of business.
So clearly, we should have sat and waited knowing NotPetya was coming, we could have picked up the pieces, it would have been a lot easier on us. So I think I'm going to ask Rob Carter, our CIO give you a bit of color what he was giving me the other day about the NotPetya account. To my knowledge, the only in-depth article that's ever been written by, I think it was in Wired Magazine.
And when you read that, it's like, oh, my God, this is one of the most under-reported stories in history. So to get to your point, of course, we want to make money in these networks, and we will engineer and modify them to the extent that we need to, but you've got to remember, those two things. The anticipation of continue to embrace a free trade, which was our assumption on building a lot of this stuff and then not assuming the NotPetya things are the two exogenous factors we've been dealing with. So Rob, you want to comment on this?
Robert Barber Carter--CIF, Co-CEO & Executive Vice President
Well, this attack was a weapons-grade attacked by Russia on Ukraine that utilized cyber tools that were built by the NSA, and the US government. And a group called Shadow Broker stole those tools and they were turned back on the Ukraine, and the devastation in Ukraine, just hasn't properly been reported. All the airports were down, all the trains were down, hospital systems were lost, the monitoring systems in Chernobyl that monitor, what is the most infamous nuclear plant in the world were lost.
If you looked at pictures that are on the Internet of the Kiev airport every single screen showing the red screen of death. Every point-of-sale terminal in the big grocery store, showing the same thing. Every ATM machine down in the country. This was an amazing attack and we are thankful that our teams, were certainly able to stop at the borders of TNT, it didn't impact the FedEx enterprise. But the devastation in the TNT technology state was considerable, to say the least.
The good news for today is that the state is running significantly better than it ever has with high degrees of reliability that are positively impacting service levels for TNT and the integrated networks that are being put in place now. But Fred is right, this was a devastating attack for a nation-state that couldn't defend itself and businesses like ours, and many others were impacted as well.
Alan B. Graf--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Brandon, this is Alan. I just want -- since the questions is an important one I just feel like I need to weigh in as a CFO. What you just -- the question you asked, we talk about all the time. We talk about it at the Board level, we talked it about at our SMC's. Let me just add two things. In the fourth quarter a year ago, we were almost there. I mean we Express running on all cylinders and that was without TNT, provide anything but a drag.
So I know we can do it. I know we will do it. I'm disappointed that we haven't done it, but I believe strongly that when we get the interoperability up and we get any kind of global trade environment that's reasonable, that we will be successful with our international at Express.
Operator
Our next question will come from Helane Becker with Cowen.
Helane Becker--Cowen & Company -- Analyst
Thanks very much, operator. I appreciate the time. Fred, what happens to the Guangzhou hub in this whole China-US trade situation, if anything?
Frederick W. Smith--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Well, there is a tremendous trade dispute going on between China and the United States as is reported almost hourly on the business TV stations. But we've been a good corporate citizen in China for decades. And we are completely dedicated to compliance in China and we have expressed that to them and reinforced it, so they ordered us in Guangzhou and many other locations and probably there have been an increase in audits as a result of this, to some degree. But we've cooperated fully with the China State Post Bureau and their investigation of the two misrouted packages and the erroneously returned package.
Again we apologized to the customers, they left our possessions, we offered to make things right, but that has nothing to do with China or Huawei. It has everything to do with the purple promise. We would have done that for or any customer. So our Guangzhou hub is a huge part of the economy of the Pearl River Basin. And so we hope there is not going to be any further deterioration in US-China trade relations.
Let me say again, just because it's important for this audience to know about this request that we made of the D.C. Circuit Court on these export regulations. What's really led us to do that at the end of the day, wasn't Huawei, at all. It was on last Friday, there were five new entities added with these extraordinarily opaque requirements and contrary to what you hear in the media, we don't have to be complicit in this. It's strict liability, if you make a mistake, if the Department of Commerce, BIS, which stands for business and industrial -- Bureau of Industry and Security, they are empowered under their regulations not we think based on congressional law but on their own regulation who fine us or any other common carrier if what's been represented in that shipment even though we have a certificate saying that it comply, $250,000 per package. So I don't think that's what the intended and as Mark said, hopefully, we're going to going to deal with them. But that is separate and distinct from the Huawei situation, which was three packages out of a 15 million package per day. So it's very difficult these days to keep this in perspective, but we've tried to do so and we've got a great team in China; Karen Reddington, our President and Eddy Chan who runs China for us and our government affairs people. So hopefully, we don't have any issues there. There certainly haven't been any operational issues to speak of.
Operator
Our next question will come from Bascome Majors with Susquehanna.
Bascome Majors--Susquehanna -- Analyst
Yes. Hi, thanks for taking my question here. Alan, I was curious if you could tell us how much incentive comp helped the results in 2019 on absolute basis? I know it was $350 million through the first three quarters of the year and how much would a target level be for that to fully come back and how much or how close to that target are you budgeting in the fiscal 2020 outlook? Thanks.
Alan B. Graf--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Hi, Bascome. We're going to have an 8-K in July. I don't think that's a too much of a strategic question. The AIC that we are forecasting for FY '20 is in the guidance I gave you and I would just leave it at that and follow up with IR later.
Operator
Our next question will come from Ken Hoexter with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Ken Hoexter--Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Great. Hi, good afternoon. You noted the profit growth at Ground incorporated to start up for Sunday delivery and would still be up. Given the move of retailers for more next day delivery from WalMart, Target, Amazon, do you see a larger shift going from Express -- I'm sorry, from Ground to Express packages and how does that change your dynamic and cost structure?
Rajesh Subramaniam--President and Chief Operating Officer
So this is Raj. Let me the reason we have now a full portfolio of services on transportation and other e-commerce services is to cater to all the needs of retailers and e-tailers as we go forward here. So to your question, when Walmart talks about -- overnight for Walmart where we are the service provider for that and we have lot of overnight volume for that; if you need extra hours for Target, we provide that; if you need local zone one Ground delivery, we have that service as well. So my point here is that we have now a full portfolio of e-commerce delivery services along with technology and returns and more to come as the Chairman talked about that it is the most robust in the marketplace. So it's really putting together the whole picture that we're trying to do here.
Alan B. Graf--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Hi, Ken, Alan. What Ground is working on and doing a great job of is lowering their cost structure dramatically. We wouldn't be taking all the SmartPost packages into our own network if it wasn't the fact that we can do it for a lower cost in the postage. The postage is going to keep going up; we're driving our cost down. So that's an important phenomenon for you to understand. Secondarily, again, the customer decides time and distance is how we decide which network it goes into. Ground its asset, it's double turning, it's doing all kinds of things but it can't make a really late in the evening pickup for next day delivery or two-day delivery of any kind of distance and that's where it goes to Express. So as Raj was explaining to you, we've got networks to provide whatever the customer wants. And that's important thing, but I don't want to day to go by that people understanding, Ground is significantly lowering its unit cost and doing it a very rapidly.
Operator
And next we'll go to Tom Wadewitz from UBS.
Tom Wadewitz--UBS -- Analyst
Yes. Good evening and thank you for the question. Sticking on that topic, I guess, perhaps you could offer more color on what some of the actions are to significantly lower the cost structure in Ground. I guess my intuition is that in transportation, density drives cost and it seems like the all in on e-commerce you're doing a number of things that will help grow the business but could drive some dilution in your density just more B2C packages. So I was just wondering if you could help us understand the offsets to some of the margin pressure and perhaps a little more on what you're saying Alan, in terms of really significantly lowering the cost structure in Ground?
Alan B. Graf--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
I got it. I got this one. Of course, there is density, and as fast as Ground is growing as fast as packages are coming to them and the fact that we're sweating the assets more and with the technology and engineering expertise that we have, which is world class, we can handle a whole lot more traffic and a lot lower unit cost and that's a great place to be. By the way, as I want to iterate, Ground is faster on 25% on lanes net, sometimes we get compared to over the peak season about how well we do versus the competition. Everybody forgets, they're holding us to our own standards not what all the competition does, that makes us one, two or three days faster during peak season. So I think we're in great place and that's why we're doing it.
Operator
And that does conclude our question-and-answer session today. I would like to turn it back over to Mickey Foster for closing remarks.
Mickey Foster--Vice President of Investor Relations
Thank you for your participation in FedEx Corporation's Fourth Quarter Earnings Conference Call . Please feel free to call anyone on the Investor Relations team if you have additional questions about FedEx. Thank you.
Operator
That does conclude our conference for today . Thank you for your participation.
Duration: 65 minutes
Mickey Foster--Vice President of Investor Relations
Frederick W. Smith--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Rajesh Subramaniam--President and Chief Operating Officer
Brie Carere--Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Alan B. Graf--Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Mark R. Allen--Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Robert Barber Carter--CIF, Co-CEO & Executive Vice President
Allison Landry--Credit Suisse -- Analyst
Chris Wetherbee--Citi -- Analyst
Jack Atkins--Stephens -- Analyst
Scott Group--Wolfe Research -- Analyst
Amit Mehrotra--Deutsche Bank -- Analyst
David Ross--Stifel. -- Analyst
David Vernon--Bernstein -- Analyst
Brandon Oglenski--Barclays -- Analyst
Helane Becker--Cowen & Company -- Analyst
Bascome Majors--Susquehanna -- Analyst
Ken Hoexter--Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Tom Wadewitz--UBS -- Analyst
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This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see ourTerms and Conditionsfor additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability.
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What Kind Of Shareholder Owns Most Azeus Systems Holdings Ltd. (SGX:BBW) Stock?
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The big shareholder groups in Azeus Systems Holdings Ltd. (SGX:BBW) have power over the company. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.'
Azeus Systems Holdings is a smaller company with a market capitalization of S$21m, so it may still be flying under the radar of many institutional investors. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it's seems that institutions are not on the share registry. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about BBW.
Check out our latest analysis for Azeus Systems Holdings
Small companies that are not very actively traded often lack institutional investors, but it's less common to see large companies without them.
There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. Alternatively, there might be something about the company that has kept institutional investors away. Azeus Systems Holdings's earnings and revenue track record (below) may not be compelling to institutional investors -- or they simply might not have looked at the business closely.
Azeus Systems Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.
I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.
It seems insiders own a significant proportion of Azeus Systems Holdings Ltd.. Insiders own S$6.6m worth of shares in the S$21m company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You canclick here to see if they have been buying or selling.
The general public holds a 15% stake in BBW. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 53%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too.
I like to dive deeperinto how a company has performed in the past. You can findhistoric revenue and earnings in thisdetailed graph.
If you would prefer check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss thisfreelist of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Such Is Life: How Bod Australia (ASX:BDA) Shareholders Saw Their Shares Drop 54%
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The nature of investing is that you win some, and you lose some. And there's no doubt thatBod Australia Limited(ASX:BDA) stock has had a really bad year. The share price has slid 54% in that time. We wouldn't rush to judgement on Bod Australia because we don't have a long term history to look at. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 26% in the last three months.
See our latest analysis for Bod Australia
Because Bod Australia is loss-making, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.
Bod Australia grew its revenue by 82% over the last year. That's well above most other pre-profit companies. Meanwhile, the share price slid 54%. This could mean hype has come out of the stock because the bottom line is concerning investors. Generally speaking investors would consider a stock like this less risky once it turns a profit. But when do you think that will happen?
The chart below shows how revenue and earnings have changed with time, (if you click on the chart you can see the actual values).
Take a more thorough look at Bod Australia's financial health with thisfreereport on its balance sheet.
While Bod Australia shareholders are down 54% for the year, the market itself is up 12%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. With the stock down 26% over the last three months, the market doesn't seem to believe that the company has solved all its problems. Basically, most investors should be wary of buying into a poor-performing stock, unless the business itself has clearly improved. Before spending more time on Bod Australiait might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.
But note:Bod Australia may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at thisfreelist of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast).
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on AU exchanges.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Some Bod Australia (ASX:BDA) Shareholders Have Copped A Big 54% Share Price Drop
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Taking the occasional loss comes part and parcel with investing on the stock market. And there's no doubt thatBod Australia Limited(ASX:BDA) stock has had a really bad year. The share price is down a hefty 54% in that time. Bod Australia hasn't been listed for long, so although we're wary of recent listings that perform poorly, it may still prove itself with time. Furthermore, it's down 26% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.
Check out our latest analysis for Bod Australia
Bod Australia isn't a profitable company, so it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.
Bod Australia grew its revenue by 82% over the last year. That's well above most other pre-profit companies. In contrast the share price is down 54% over twelve months. Yes, the market can be a fickle mistress. Typically a growth stock like this will be volatile, with some shareholders concerned about the red ink on the bottom line (that is, the losses). We'd definitely consider it a positive if the company is trending towards profitability. If you can see that happening, then perhaps consider adding this stock to your watchlist.
You can see how revenue and earnings have changed over time in the image below, (click on the chart to see cashflow).
If you are thinking of buying or selling Bod Australia stock, you should check out thisFREEdetailed report on its balance sheet.
Given that the market gained 12% in the last year, Bod Australia shareholders might be miffed that they lost 54%. While the aim is to do better than that, it's worth recalling that even great long-term investments sometimes underperform for a year or more. With the stock down 26% over the last three months, the market doesn't seem to believe that the company has solved all its problems. Given the relatively short history of this stock, we'd remain pretty wary until we see some strong business performance. If you would like to research Bod Australia in more detail then you might want totake a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in the company.
If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss thisfreelist of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on AU exchanges.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Is Nuvectra Corporation (NVTR) A Good Stock To Buy?
Our extensive research has shown that imitating the smart money can generate significant returns for retail investors, which is why we track nearly 750 active prominent money managers and analyze their quarterly 13F filings. The stocks that are heavily bought by hedge funds historically outperformed the market, though there is no shortage of high profile failures like hedge funds' 2018 losses in Facebook and Apple. Let’s take a closer look at what the funds we track think about Nuvectra Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTR) in this article.
IsNuvectra Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTR)a buy right now? Investors who are in the know are getting less optimistic. The number of long hedge fund bets went down by 4 lately. Our calculations also showed that NVTR isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter.
[caption id="attachment_745225" align="aligncenter" width="473"]
Noam Gottesman, GLG Partners[/caption]
We're going to view the fresh hedge fund action encompassing Nuvectra Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTR).
At Q1's end, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -25% from the fourth quarter of 2018. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in NVTR over the last 15 quarters. So, let's review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, J. Carlo Cannell'sCannell Capitalhas the most valuable position in Nuvectra Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTR), worth close to $8 million, comprising 1.9% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held byMillennium Management, led by Israel Englander, holding a $6 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other professional money managers that hold long positions encompass Samuel Isaly'sOrbiMed Advisors, Noam Gottesman'sGLG Partnersand Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle'sSpringbok Capital.
Judging by the fact that Nuvectra Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTR) has witnessed falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it's safe to say that there exists a select few funds who sold off their full holdings by the end of the third quarter. Interestingly, Richard Driehaus'sDriehaus Capitaldropped the biggest stake of all the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, comprising about $11 million in stock, and Daniel Lascano's Lomas Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $5.9 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds by the end of the third quarter.
Let's now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Nuvectra Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTR). These stocks are Millendo Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLND), American Realty Investors, Inc. (NYSE:ARL), Norwood Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:NWFL), and Wrap Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:WRTC). All of these stocks' market caps are similar to NVTR's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position MLND,9,48888,2 ARL,1,482,0 NWFL,2,1768,1 WRTC,2,920,2 Average,3.5,13015,1.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 3.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $13 million. That figure was $26 million in NVTR's case. Millendo Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLND) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand American Realty Investors, Inc. (NYSE:ARL) is the least popular one with only 1 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Nuvectra Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTR) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately NVTR wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on NVTR were disappointed as the stock returned -65.5% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (LEE)
World-class money managers like Ken Griffin and Barry Rosenstein only invest their wealthy clients' money after undertaking a rigorous examination of any potential stock. They are particularly successful in this regard when it comes to small-cap stocks, which their peerless research gives them a big information advantage on when it comes to judging their worth. It's not surprising then that they generate their biggest returns from these stocks and invest more of their money in these stocks on average than other investors. It's also not surprising then that we pay close attention to these picks ourselves and have built a market-beating investment strategy around them.
Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE)was in 12 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. LEE has experienced an increase in hedge fund sentiment in recent months. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with LEE holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that LEE isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit there are many metrics market participants employ to value publicly traded companies. A couple of the most under-the-radar metrics are hedge fund and insider trading signals. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a solid margin (see the details here).
We're going to go over the fresh hedge fund action regarding Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE).
At Q1's end, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 9% from one quarter earlier. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards LEE over the last 15 quarters. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE) was held byCannell Capital, which reported holding $9 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by Graham Capital Management with a $2.2 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Millennium Management, Prescott Group Capital Management, and Osmium Partners.
Consequently, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness.PEAK6 Capital Management, managed by Matthew Hulsizer, assembled the biggest call position in Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE). PEAK6 Capital Management had $0.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell'sArrowstreet Capitalalso initiated a $0.5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Mark Broach'sManatuck Hill Partnersand Ken Griffin'sCitadel Investment Group.
Let's now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE) but similarly valued. These stocks are RigNet Inc (NASDAQ:RNET), Danaos Corporation (NYSE:DAC), NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NL), and Allegro Merger Corp. (NASDAQ:ALGR). All of these stocks' market caps match LEE's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position RNET,4,14144,-1 DAC,2,195,1 NL,3,1056,0 ALGR,11,30105,0 Average,5,11375,0 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $11 million. That figure was $19 million in LEE's case. Allegro Merger Corp. (NASDAQ:ALGR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Danaos Corporation (NYSE:DAC) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately LEE wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on LEE were disappointed as the stock returned -29.4% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Is Ardelyx Inc (ARDX) A Good Stock To Buy?
Hedge funds are known to underperform the bull markets but that's not because they are terrible at stock picking. Hedge funds underperform because their net exposure in only 40-70% and they charge exorbitant fees. No one knows what the future holds and how market participants will react to the bountiful news that floods in each day. However, hedge funds' consensus picks on average deliver market beating returns. For example in the first 5 months of this year through May 30th the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index returned approximately 12.1% (including dividend payments). Conversely, hedge funds’ top 20 large-cap stock picks generated a return of 18.7% during the same 5-month period, with the majority of these stock picks outperforming the broader market benchmark. Interestingly, an average long/short hedge fund returned only a fraction of this value due to the hedges they implemented and the large fees they charged. If you pay attention to the actual hedge fund returns versus the returns of their long stock picks, you might believe that it is a waste of time to analyze hedge funds' purchases. We know better. That's why we scrutinize hedge fund sentiment before we invest in a stock like Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX).
Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX)investors should pay attention to a decrease in hedge fund sentiment lately.ARDXwas in 12 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with ARDX holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that ARDX isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
So, why do we pay attention to hedge fund sentiment before making any investment decisions? Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter. Even if you aren't comfortable with shorting stocks, you should at least avoid initiating long positions in our short portfolio.
We're going to go over the latest hedge fund action surrounding Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX).
At Q1's end, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -14% from the fourth quarter of 2018. On the other hand, there were a total of 12 hedge funds with a bullish position in ARDX a year ago. With hedge funds' positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
The largest stake in Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX) was held byAdage Capital Management, which reported holding $11.2 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by Deerfield Management with a $9.2 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Rock Springs Capital Management, Renaissance Technologies, and 683 Capital Partners.
Due to the fact that Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX) has experienced bearish sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there lies a certain "tier" of funds that decided to sell off their positions entirely in the third quarter. It's worth mentioning that Israel Englander'sMillennium Managementcut the biggest investment of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, valued at close to $0.3 million in stock, and Ken Griffin's Citadel Investment Group was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $0.1 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds in the third quarter.
Let's now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX). These stocks are IDT Corporation (NYSE:IDT), Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS), Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKTS), and Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PRTK). This group of stocks' market valuations resemble ARDX's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position IDT,14,22240,0 ZEUS,8,4368,2 AKTS,8,5028,4 PRTK,14,56810,0 Average,11,22112,1.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 11 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $22 million. That figure was $40 million in ARDX's case. IDT Corporation (NYSE:IDT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately ARDX wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on ARDX were disappointed as the stock returned -8.9% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Hedge Funds Have Never Been More Bullish On Nabriva Therapeutics plc (NBRV)
The first quarter was a breeze as Powell pivoted, and China seemed eager to reach a deal with Trump. Both the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 delivered very strong gains as a result, with the Russell 2000, which is composed of smaller companies, outperforming the large-cap stocks slightly during the first quarter. Unfortunately sentiment shifted in May as this time China pivoted and Trump put more pressure on China by increasing tariffs. Hedge funds' top 20 stock picks performed spectacularly in this volatile environment. These stocks delivered a total gain of 18.7% through May 30th, vs. a gain of 12.1% for the S&P 500 ETF. In this article we will look at how this market volatility affected the sentiment of hedge funds towards Nabriva Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:NBRV), and what that likely means for the prospects of the company and its stock.
Nabriva Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:NBRV)shares haven't seen a lot of action during the first quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged. The stock was in 12 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren't the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds' perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That's why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Ocular Therapeutix Inc (NASDAQ:OCUL), Vitamin Shoppe Inc (NYSE:VSI), and Medallion Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:MFIN) to gather more data points.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
We're going to take a glance at the recent hedge fund action encompassing Nabriva Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:NBRV).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from the fourth quarter of 2018. On the other hand, there were a total of 11 hedge funds with a bullish position in NBRV a year ago. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
More specifically,OrbiMed Advisorswas the largest shareholder of Nabriva Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:NBRV), with a stake worth $11.3 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing OrbiMed Advisors was Vivo Capital, which amassed a stake valued at $10.7 million. Frazier Healthcare Partners, Rock Springs Capital Management, and Renaissance Technologies were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
We view hedge fund activity in the stock unfavorable, but in this case there was only a single hedge fund selling its entire position:Laurion Capital Management. One hedge fund selling its entire position doesn't always imply a bearish intent. Theoretically a hedge fund may decide to sell a promising position in order to invest the proceeds in a more promising idea. However, we don't think this is the case in this case because only one of the 800+ hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey identified as a viable investment and initiated a position in the stock (that fund wasD E Shaw).
Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Nabriva Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:NBRV) but similarly valued. These stocks are Ocular Therapeutix Inc (NASDAQ:OCUL), Vitamin Shoppe Inc (NYSE:VSI), Medallion Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:MFIN), and Medley Capital Corp (NYSE:MCC). This group of stocks' market caps are closest to NBRV's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position OCUL,4,17332,0 VSI,20,51238,5 MFIN,8,5212,-2 MCC,9,19308,0 Average,10.25,23273,0.75 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 10.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $23 million. That figure was $40 million in NBRV's case. Vitamin Shoppe Inc (NYSE:VSI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Ocular Therapeutix Inc (NASDAQ:OCUL) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Nabriva Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:NBRV) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately NBRV wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on NBRV were disappointed as the stock returned -9.8% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Natural Health Trends Corp. (NHTC)
While the market driven by short-term sentiment influenced by the accomodative interest rate environment in the US, increasing oil prices and optimism towards the resolution of the trade war with China, many smart money investors kept their cautious approach regarding the current bull run in the first quarter and hedging or reducing many of their long positions. However, as we know, big investors usually buy stocks with strong fundamentals, which is why we believe we can profit from imitating them. In this article, we are going to take a look at the smart money sentiment surrounding Natural Health Trends Corp. (NASDAQ:NHTC).
Natural Health Trends Corp. (NASDAQ:NHTC)has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest of late. Our calculations also showed that NHTC isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
We're going to check out the key hedge fund action encompassing Natural Health Trends Corp. (NASDAQ:NHTC).
At Q1's end, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 33% from one quarter earlier. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards NHTC over the last 15 quarters. So, let's see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in Natural Health Trends Corp. (NASDAQ:NHTC) was held byRenaissance Technologies, which reported holding $12.2 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by GLG Partners with a $2.6 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Arrowstreet Capital, AQR Capital Management, and D E Shaw.
As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers have jumped into Natural Health Trends Corp. (NASDAQ:NHTC) headfirst.Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, created the most valuable position in Natural Health Trends Corp. (NASDAQ:NHTC). Millennium Management had $1.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin'sCitadel Investment Groupalso made a $0.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new NHTC investors: Roger Ibbotson'sZebra Capital Management, David Harding'sWinton Capital Management, and Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron'sAlgert Coldiron Investors.
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Natural Health Trends Corp. (NASDAQ:NHTC) but similarly valued. These stocks are Allena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNA), Quintana Energy Services Inc. (NYSE:QES), First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO), and Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:AVXL). This group of stocks' market valuations resemble NHTC's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position ALNA,5,37096,0 QES,2,14253,0 FCCO,3,11917,0 AVXL,5,13158,0 Average,3.75,19106,0 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 3.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $19 million. That figure was $23 million in NHTC's case. Allena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Quintana Energy Services Inc. (NYSE:QES) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Natural Health Trends Corp. (NASDAQ:NHTC) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately NHTC wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on NHTC were disappointed as the stock returned -35.6% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Is Destination XL Group Inc (DXLG) A Good Stock To Buy?
A whopping number of 13F filings filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been processed by Insider Monkey so that individual investors can look at the overall hedge fund sentiment towards the stocks included in their watchlists. These freshly-submitted public filings disclose money managers’ equity positions as of the end of the three-month period that ended March 31, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on Destination XL Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXLG).
Destination XL Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXLG)has seen an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months.DXLGwas in 12 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. There were 8 hedge funds in our database with DXLG holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that DXLG isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the financial world there are a large number of tools investors have at their disposal to grade stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid amount. Insider Monkey's flagship best performing hedge funds strategy returned 25.8% year to date (through May 30th) and outperformed the market even though it draws its stock picks among small-cap stocks. This strategy also outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since its inception (see the details here). That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is a useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
We're going to take a gander at the new hedge fund action surrounding Destination XL Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXLG).
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 50% from one quarter earlier. On the other hand, there were a total of 11 hedge funds with a bullish position in DXLG a year ago. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds,Red Mountain Capitalheld the most valuable stake in Destination XL Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXLG), which was worth $19.7 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was Cannell Capital which amassed $12.9 million worth of shares. Moreover, Prescott Group Capital Management, Roumell Asset Management, and Renaissance Technologies were also bullish on Destination XL Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXLG), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
Now, some big names were leading the bulls' herd.Bailard Inc, managed by Thomas Bailard, created the most outsized position in Destination XL Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXLG). Bailard Inc had $0.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Michael Gelband'sExodusPoint Capitalalso initiated a $0.1 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new DXLG investors: Michael Platt and William Reeves'sBlueCrest Capital Mgmt.and Israel Englander'sMillennium Management.
Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Destination XL Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXLG). These stocks are USA Truck, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAK), CyberOptics Corporation (NASDAQ:CYBE), Jupai Holdings Limited (NYSE:JP), and RiceBran Technologies (NASDAQ:RIBT). This group of stocks' market caps are similar to DXLG's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position USAK,11,15716,1 CYBE,5,6778,2 JP,1,655,-2 RIBT,4,2755,1 Average,5.25,6476,0.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 5.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $6 million. That figure was $45 million in DXLG's case. USA Truck, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Jupai Holdings Limited (NYSE:JP) is the least popular one with only 1 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Destination XL Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXLG) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately DXLG wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on DXLG were disappointed as the stock returned -29.4% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Bitcoin’s Share of $350 Billion Crypto Market Highest Since 2017
Bitcoin has done it again, hitting a new 2019 high above $12,000 before retracing slightly.
At 21:00 UTC on June 25, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization broke from sideways trading after being held beneath $11,400 for over 11 hours.
However, perhaps most notable is the fact that bitcoin also crossed above 60 percent market dominance for the first time in over 17 months.
Related:Tim Draper Is Bullish On Argentina’s Blockchain Tech Potential
A metric maintained by data provider CoinMarketCap, the Bitcoin Dominance Index shows bitcoin continues to gain altitude at a time when broader confidence in the crypto market, now nearly $350 billion, has yet to return.
The move to fresh 2019 highs is further a welcome sight for the bulls who continue to enjoy the incredible 230 percent gains experienced from the beginning of this year.
Notably, the price rally was also accompanied by an uptick in the 24-hour trading volume as an increase of $13.8 billion was added overall, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Related:Square Is Expanding Access to Bitcoin Deposits for Cash App Users
However, its “Real 10” volume – a metric that takes into account trading volume from exchanges reporting honest volume figures as identified in a report by Bitwise Asset Management, is delivering more sober results, currently standing up $4.09 billion, according to Messari.io.
Still, bitcoin’s dominance may be the broader story.
At press time, bitcoin’s market capitalization now records $202.8 billion, which is about $67.1 million more than the market capitalization of every other cryptocurrency combined – which currently stands at $135.7 billion.
Meanwhile, other highly ranked cryptocurrencies like NEO, Ether (ETH) and Ontology (ONT) have gained between 2 to 10 percent value on a 24-hour basis, according to CoinMarketCap.
Eyes are now firmly set on bitcoin’s new target along the $12,0000 psychological price tag, last seen 17 months ago on Jan 28, 2018, signaling a very strong upward toward its all-time high near $20,000.
Disclosure:The author holds no cryptocurrency at the time of writing.
Bitcoin imageviaShutterstock; Charts viaCoinMarketCap
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Is Superior Industries International Inc. (SUP) A Good Stock To Buy?
Is Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP) a good bet right now? We like to analyze hedge fund sentiment before doing days of in-depth research. We do so because hedge funds and other elite investors have numerous Ivy League graduates, expert network advisers, and supply chain tipsters working or consulting for them. There is not a shortage of news stories covering failed hedge fund investments and it is a fact that hedge funds' picks don't beat the market 100% of the time, but their consensus picks have historically done very well and have outperformed the market after adjusting for risk.
Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP)investors should pay attention to a decrease in support from the world's most elite money managers of late. Our calculations also showed that SUP isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
[caption id="attachment_375529" align="aligncenter" width="450"]
Mario Gabelli of GAMCO Investors[/caption]
We're going to go over the new hedge fund action encompassing Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -20% from the previous quarter. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in SUP over the last 15 quarters. With hedgies' sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey,DC Capital Partners, managed by Douglas Dethy, holds the most valuable position in Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP). DC Capital Partners has a $5.7 million position in the stock, comprising 4.2% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager isGAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, which holds a $4.2 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism include D. E. Shaw'sD E Shaw, John Overdeck and David Siegel'sTwo Sigma Advisorsand Mike Vranos'sEllington.
Due to the fact that Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP) has faced bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there is a sect of hedgies that slashed their full holdings by the end of the third quarter. It's worth mentioning that Jim Simons'sRenaissance Technologiessold off the biggest position of the "upper crust" of funds monitored by Insider Monkey, worth about $1.4 million in call options, and Israel Englander's Millennium Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $0.7 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds by the end of the third quarter.
Let's now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP). We will take a look at RealNetworks Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK), Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRVS), County Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ICBK), and Castle Brands Inc (NYSE:ROX). This group of stocks' market valuations resemble SUP's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position RNWK,10,35879,3 CRVS,7,38492,-2 ICBK,3,4881,1 ROX,4,1001,0 Average,6,20063,0.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 6 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $20 million. That figure was $12 million in SUP's case. RealNetworks Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand County Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ICBK) is the least popular one with only 3 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately SUP wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on SUP were disappointed as the stock returned -25.3% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Is Unilever plc (UL) A Good Stock To Buy?
Investing in hedge funds can bring large profits, but it’s not for everybody, since hedge funds are available only for high-net-worth individuals. They generate significant returns for investors to justify their large fees and they allocate a lot of time and employ a complex analysis to determine the best stocks to invest in. A particularly interesting group of stocks that hedge funds like is the small-caps. The huge amount of capital does not allow hedge funds to invest a lot in small-caps, but our research showed that their most popular small-cap ideas are less efficiently priced and generate stronger returns than their large- and mega-cap picks and the broader market. That is why we pay special attention to the hedge fund activity in the small-cap space.
Unilever plc (NYSE:UL)shares haven't seen a lot of action during the first quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged. The stock was in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. At the end of this article we will also compare UL to other stocks including BP plc (NYSE:BP), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), and McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let's take a glance at the recent hedge fund action regarding Unilever plc (NYSE:UL).
At Q1's end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. On the other hand, there were a total of 12 hedge funds with a bullish position in UL a year ago. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds,Arrowstreet Capitalheld the most valuable stake in Unilever plc (NYSE:UL), which was worth $264.7 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was Markel Gayner Asset Management which amassed $88.2 million worth of shares. Moreover, Renaissance Technologies, Millennium Management, and Wallace Capital Management were also bullish on Unilever plc (NYSE:UL), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
Judging by the fact that Unilever plc (NYSE:UL) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there was a specific group of hedgies who were dropping their full holdings last quarter. Interestingly, D. E. Shaw'sD E Shawdropped the largest investment of the "upper crust" of funds monitored by Insider Monkey, comprising about $8 million in stock. Dmitry Balyasny's fund,Balyasny Asset Management, also dumped its stock, about $0.8 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
Let's now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Unilever plc (NYSE:UL). We will take a look at BP plc (NYSE:BP), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD), and TOTAL S.A. (NYSE:TOT). This group of stocks' market valuations are closest to UL's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position BP,29,1139916,-5 C,87,9189925,-3 MCD,54,3120539,6 TOT,13,971886,4 Average,45.75,3605567,0.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 45.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $3606 million. That figure was $396 million in UL's case. Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand TOTAL S.A. (NYSE:TOT) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Unilever plc (NYSE:UL) is even less popular than TOT. Hedge funds clearly dropped the ball on UL as the stock delivered strong returns, though hedge funds' consensus picks still generated respectable returns. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. A small number of hedge funds were also right about betting on UL as the stock returned 9.1% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About TOTAL S.A. (TOT)
How do we determine whether TOTAL S.A. (NYSE:TOT) makes for a good investment at the moment? We analyze the sentiment of a select group of the very best investors in the world, who spend immense amounts of time and resources studying companies. They may not always be right (no one is), but data shows that their consensus long positions have historically outperformed the market when we adjust for known risk factors.
TOTAL S.A. (NYSE:TOT)investors should be aware of an increase in support from the world's most elite money managers lately.TOTwas in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with TOT holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that TOT isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the financial world there are a large number of tools investors have at their disposal to grade stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid amount. Insider Monkey's flagship best performing hedge funds strategy returned 25.8% year to date (through May 30th) and outperformed the market even though it draws its stock picks among small-cap stocks. This strategy also outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since its inception (see the details here). That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is a useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let's view the latest hedge fund action surrounding TOTAL S.A. (NYSE:TOT).
At Q1's end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 44% from one quarter earlier. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards TOT over the last 15 quarters. With hedge funds' sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
The largest stake in TOTAL S.A. (NYSE:TOT) was held byFisher Asset Management, which reported holding $881.4 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by Point72 Asset Management with a $47.9 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Balyasny Asset Management, HBK Investments, and Adage Capital Management.
Consequently, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness.Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, created the biggest position in TOTAL S.A. (NYSE:TOT). Balyasny Asset Management had $26.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Clint Carlson'sCarlson Capitalalso initiated a $4 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Michael Gelband'sExodusPoint Capital, Jeffrey Talpins'sElement Capital Management, and Michael Platt and William Reeves'sBlueCrest Capital Mgmt..
Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as TOTAL S.A. (NYSE:TOT) but similarly valued. These stocks are Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), BHP Group (NYSE:BHP), SAP SE (NYSE:SAP), and Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM). This group of stocks' market values are closest to TOT's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position ABT,50,1859812,-1 BHP,15,637521,0 SAP,8,1173668,-6 PM,43,3989796,-5 Average,29,1915199,-3 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 29 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1915 million. That figure was $972 million in TOT's case. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. TOTAL S.A. (NYSE:TOT) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately TOT wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was quite bearish); TOT investors were disappointed as the stock returned -1.5% during the same time period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here is What Hedge Funds Think About China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (SNP)
Legendary investors such as Jeffrey Talpins and Seth Klarman earn enormous amounts of money for themselves and their investors by doing in-depth research on small-cap stocks that big brokerage houses don't publish. Small cap stocks -especially when they are screened well- can generate substantial outperformance versus a boring index fund. That's why we analyze the activity of those elite funds in these small-cap stocks. In the following paragraphs, we analyze China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (NYSE:SNP) from the perspective of those elite funds.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (NYSE:SNP)was in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. SNP shareholders have witnessed a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money of late. There were 15 hedge funds in our database with SNP holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that SNP isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
So, why do we pay attention to hedge fund sentiment before making any investment decisions? Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter. Even if you aren't comfortable with shorting stocks, you should at least avoid initiating long positions in our short portfolio.
Let's view the recent hedge fund action regarding China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (NYSE:SNP).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -13% from the previous quarter. On the other hand, there were a total of 8 hedge funds with a bullish position in SNP a year ago. So, let's see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey,Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the number one position in China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (NYSE:SNP). Renaissance Technologies has a $144.8 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held byArrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, which holds a $54.9 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish encompass John Overdeck and David Siegel'sTwo Sigma Advisors, Israel Englander'sMillennium Managementand Ernest Chow and Jonathan Howe'sSensato Capital Management.
Since China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (NYSE:SNP) has faced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, it's safe to say that there were a few hedgies that slashed their entire stakes in the third quarter. Intriguingly, Noam Gottesman'sGLG Partnerscut the largest position of all the hedgies watched by Insider Monkey, totaling close to $1 million in stock, and Ken Griffin's Citadel Investment Group was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $0.4 million worth. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds in the third quarter.
Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (NYSE:SNP) but similarly valued. We will take a look at United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS), Linde plc (NYSE:LIN), British American Tobacco plc (NYSE:BTI), and Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR). This group of stocks' market values resemble SNP's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position UPS,37,1006858,5 LIN,37,1629340,0 BTI,15,316057,5 DHR,58,3081018,10 Average,36.75,1508318,5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 36.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1508 million. That figure was $251 million in SNP's case. Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand British American Tobacco plc (NYSE:BTI) is the least popular one with only 15 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (NYSE:SNP) is even less popular than BTI. Hedge funds dodged a bullet by taking a bearish stance towards SNP. Our calculations showed that the top 20 most popular hedge fund stocks returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately SNP wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was very bearish); SNP investors were disappointed as the stock returned -11.5% during the same time frame and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in the second quarter.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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If You Like EPS Growth Then Check Out Bombay Burmah Trading (NSE:BBTC) Before It's Too Late
Want to participate in ashort research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card!
For beginners, it can seem like a good idea (and an exciting prospect) to buy a company that tells a good story to investors, even if it completely lacks a track record of revenue and profit. Unfortunately, high risk investments often have little probability of ever paying off, and many investors pay a price to learn their lesson.
In contrast to all that, I prefer to spend time on companies likeBombay Burmah Trading(NSE:BBTC), which has not only revenues, but also profits. While that doesn't make the shares worth buying at any price, you can't deny that successful capitalism requires profit, eventually. In comparison, loss making companies act like a sponge for capital - but unlike such a sponge they do not always produce something when squeezed.
View our latest analysis for Bombay Burmah Trading
As one of my mentors once told me, share price follows earnings per share (EPS). It's no surprise, then, that I like to invest in companies with EPS growth. As a tree reaches steadily for the sky, Bombay Burmah Trading's EPS has grown 32% each year, compound, over three years. As a general rule, we'd say that if a company can keep upthatsort of growth, shareholders will be smiling.
Careful consideration of revenue growth and earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margins can help inform a view on the sustainability of the recent profit growth. I note that Bombay Burmah Trading's revenuefrom operationswas lower than its revenue in the last twelve months, so that could distort my analysis of its margins. Bombay Burmah Trading maintained stable EBIT margins over the last year, all while growing revenue 12% to ₹116b. That's a real positive.
In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings, and revenue, over time. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.
While it's always good to see growing profits, you should always remember that a weak balance sheet could come back to bite. So check Bombay Burmah Trading'sbalance sheet strength, before getting too excited.
Like that fresh smell in the air when the rains are coming, insider buying fills me with optimistic anticipation. That's because insider buying often indicates that those closest to the company have confidence that the share price will perform well. Of course, we can never be sure what insiders are thinking, we can only judge their actions.
The first bit of good news is that no Bombay Burmah Trading insiders reported share sales in the last twelve months. But the really good news is that MD & Director Ness Wadia spent ₹17m buying stock stock, at an average price of around ₹1,238. Big buys like that give me a sense of opportunity; actions speak louder than words.
The good news, alongside the insider buying, for Bombay Burmah Trading bulls is that insiders (collectively) have a meaningful investment in the stock. Notably, they have an enormous stake in the company, worth ₹7.1b. This suggests to me that leadership will be very mindful of shareholders' interests when making decisions!
You can't deny that Bombay Burmah Trading has grown its earnings per share at a very impressive rate. That's attractive. Better still, insiders own a large chunk of the company and one has even been buying more shares. So it's fair to say I think this stock may well deserve a spot on your watchlist. While we've looked at the quality of the earnings, we haven't yet done any work to value the stock. So if you like to buy cheap, you may want tocheck if Bombay Burmah Trading is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.
As a growth investor I do like to see insider buying. But Bombay Burmah Trading isn't the only one. You can see aa free list of them here.
Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Ambev SA (ABEV)
The Insider Monkey team has completed processing the quarterly 13F filings for the March quarter submitted by the hedge funds and other money managers included in our extensive database. Most hedge fund investors experienced strong gains on the back of a strong market performance, which certainly propelled them to adjust their equity holdings so as to maintain the desired risk profile. As a result, the relevancy of these public filings and their content is indisputable, as they may reveal numerous high-potential stocks. The following article will discuss the smart money sentiment towards Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV).
Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV)shares haven't seen a lot of action during the first quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged. The stock was in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren't the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds' perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That's why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX), Vale SA (NYSE:VALE), and Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) to gather more data points.
In the financial world there are a large number of tools investors have at their disposal to grade stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid amount. Insider Monkey's flagship best performing hedge funds strategy returned 25.8% year to date (through May 30th) and outperformed the market even though it draws its stock picks among small-cap stocks. This strategy also outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since its inception (see the details here). That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is a useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
We're going to take a gander at the key hedge fund action surrounding Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV).
At Q1's end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. On the other hand, there were a total of 14 hedge funds with a bullish position in ABEV a year ago. So, let's find out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
More specifically,Fisher Asset Managementwas the largest shareholder of Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV), with a stake worth $110.2 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Fisher Asset Management was Renaissance Technologies, which amassed a stake valued at $59.9 million. Citadel Investment Group, D E Shaw, and Two Sigma Advisors were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Judging by the fact that Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV) has faced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it's easy to see that there was a specific group of money managers that slashed their positions entirely by the end of the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Ken Heebner'sCapital Growth Managementdropped the largest investment of the "upper crust" of funds watched by Insider Monkey, comprising about $40 million in stock, and David Kowitz and Sheldon Kasowitz's Indus Capital was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $3.6 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX), Vale SA (NYSE:VALE), Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG), and Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG). This group of stocks' market values are closest to ABEV's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position BDX,35,784594,-2 VALE,22,1943292,-11 CELG,101,11077245,43 ISRG,40,1598543,-9 Average,49.5,3850919,5.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 49.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $3851 million. That figure was $248 million in ABEV's case. Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Vale SA (NYSE:VALE) is the least popular one with only 22 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV) is even less popular than VALE. Hedge funds clearly dropped the ball on ABEV as the stock delivered strong returns, though hedge funds' consensus picks still generated respectable returns. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. A small number of hedge funds were also right about betting on ABEV as the stock returned 10.5% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Is Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO) A Good Stock To Buy?
Hedge funds are known to underperform the bull markets but that's not because they are terrible at stock picking. Hedge funds underperform because their net exposure in only 40-70% and they charge exorbitant fees. No one knows what the future holds and how market participants will react to the bountiful news that floods in each day. However, hedge funds' consensus picks on average deliver market beating returns. For example in the first 5 months of this year through May 30th the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index returned approximately 12.1% (including dividend payments). Conversely, hedge funds’ top 20 large-cap stock picks generated a return of 18.7% during the same 5-month period, with the majority of these stock picks outperforming the broader market benchmark. Interestingly, an average long/short hedge fund returned only a fraction of this value due to the hedges they implemented and the large fees they charged. If you pay attention to the actual hedge fund returns versus the returns of their long stock picks, you might believe that it is a waste of time to analyze hedge funds' purchases. We know better. That's why we scrutinize hedge fund sentiment before we invest in a stock like Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO).
Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO)was in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. SCCO investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund sentiment in recent months. There were 15 hedge funds in our database with SCCO positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that SCCO isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In today’s marketplace there are a large number of methods stock traders put to use to assess their holdings. Some of the most innovative methods are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best investment managers can outclass the market by a superb margin (see the details here).
Let's take a peek at the key hedge fund action surrounding Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -13% from the fourth quarter of 2018. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in SCCO over the last 15 quarters. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey,Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, holds the biggest position in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO). Fisher Asset Management has a $141.4 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager isCapital Growth Management, led by Ken Heebner, holding a $33.9 million position; the fund has 2.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other professional money managers that are bullish consist of Cliff Asness'sAQR Capital Management, Todd J. Kantor'sEncompass Capital Advisorsand Paul Marshall and Ian Wace'sMarshall Wace LLP.
Due to the fact that Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) has witnessed a decline in interest from hedge fund managers, it's easy to see that there were a few funds that slashed their positions entirely last quarter. It's worth mentioning that Jim Simons'sRenaissance Technologiescut the biggest position of the "upper crust" of funds followed by Insider Monkey, worth an estimated $22.8 million in stock, and Jacob Doft's Highline Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $12 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds last quarter.
Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) but similarly valued. These stocks are Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA), O'Reilly Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:ORLY), and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC). All of these stocks' market caps are closest to SCCO's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position YUM,32,1109729,-2 EA,61,2742637,4 ORLY,43,2015940,-2 ERIC,20,425457,-5 Average,39,1573441,-1.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 39 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1573 million. That figure was $235 million in SCCO's case. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) is the least popular one with only 20 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) is even less popular than ERIC. Hedge funds dodged a bullet by taking a bearish stance towards SCCO. Our calculations showed that the top 20 most popular hedge fund stocks returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately SCCO wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was very bearish); SCCO investors were disappointed as the stock returned -2.6% during the same time frame and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in the second quarter.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Littelfuse, Inc. (LFUS)
Insider Monkey has processed numerous 13F filings of hedge funds and successful investors to create an extensive database of hedge fund holdings. The 13F filings show the hedge funds' and successful investors' positions as of the end of the first quarter. You can find write-ups about an individual hedge fund's trades on numerous financial news websites. However, in this article we will take a look at their collective moves and analyze what the smart money thinks of Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) based on that data.
IsLittelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS)a marvelous investment today? The smart money is getting less optimistic. The number of bullish hedge fund positions were trimmed by 2 in recent months. Our calculations also showed that LFUS isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
According to most shareholders, hedge funds are assumed to be underperforming, old financial tools of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation today, Our experts look at the elite of this group, approximately 750 funds. These money managers orchestrate the majority of the smart money's total asset base, and by tracking their best equity investments, Insider Monkey has revealed several investment strategies that have historically beaten Mr. Market. Insider Monkey's flagship hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by around 5 percentage points a year since its inception in May 2014 through June 18th. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 28.2% since February 2017 (through June 18th) even though the market was up nearly 30% during the same period. We just shared a list of 5 short targets in ourlatest quarterly updateand they are already down an average of 8.2% in a month whereas our long picks outperformed the market by 2.5 percentage points in this volatile 5 week period (our long picks also beat the market by 15 percentage points so far this year).
Let's take a peek at the new hedge fund action regarding Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -13% from one quarter earlier. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards LFUS over the last 15 quarters. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds,Fisher Asset Managementheld the most valuable stake in Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS), which was worth $92 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was Ariel Investments which amassed $80.6 million worth of shares. Moreover, Impax Asset Management, Giverny Capital, and GAMCO Investors were also bullish on Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
Due to the fact that Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) has faced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it's safe to say that there lies a certain "tier" of funds that elected to cut their entire stakes by the end of the third quarter. Interestingly, Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley'sPolar Capitalsaid goodbye to the largest stake of the "upper crust" of funds watched by Insider Monkey, valued at about $6.2 million in stock, and Matthew Hulsizer's PEAK6 Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $4.4 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds by the end of the third quarter.
Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS). These stocks are Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX), Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO), Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT), and Viper Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ:VNOM). This group of stocks' market values are similar to LFUS's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position KEX,19,514257,3 FLO,18,190309,-2 MAT,21,703901,6 VNOM,17,190764,7 Average,18.75,399808,3.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 18.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $400 million. That figure was $249 million in LFUS's case. Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Viper Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ:VNOM) is the least popular one with only 17 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) is even less popular than VNOM. Hedge funds dodged a bullet by taking a bearish stance towards LFUS. Our calculations showed that the top 20 most popular hedge fund stocks returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately LFUS wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was very bearish); LFUS investors were disappointed as the stock returned -3.3% during the same time frame and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in the second quarter.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Hedge Funds Have Never Been This Bullish On TELUS Corporation (TU)
Is TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU) a good stock to buy right now? We at Insider Monkey like to examine what billionaires and hedge funds think of a company before doing days of research on it. Given their 2 and 20 payment structure, hedge funds have more incentives and resources than the average investor. The funds have access to expert networks and get tips from industry insiders. They also have numerous Ivy League graduates and MBAs. Like everyone else, hedge funds perform miserably at times, but their consensus picks have historically outperformed the market after risk adjustments.
IsTELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU)going to take off soon? Investors who are in the know are betting on the stock. The number of long hedge fund bets increased by 2 in recent months. Our calculations also showed that TU isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter.
[caption id="attachment_745225" align="aligncenter" width="473"]
Noam Gottesman, GLG Partners[/caption]
Let's review the new hedge fund action encompassing TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 18% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards TU over the last 15 quarters. So, let's find out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds,Renaissance Technologiesheld the most valuable stake in TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU), which was worth $210.2 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was GLG Partners which amassed $35.9 million worth of shares. Moreover, D E Shaw, Arrowstreet Capital, and Millennium Management were also bullish on TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
Consequently, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness.PDT Partners, managed by Peter Muller, created the most outsized position in TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU). PDT Partners had $1.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Minhua Zhang'sWeld Capital Managementalso made a $0.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new TU investors: Dmitry Balyasny'sBalyasny Asset Managementand George Zweig, Shane Haas and Ravi Chander'sSignition LP.
Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU). We will take a look at Parker-Hannifin Corporation (NYSE:PH), FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE), Centene Corp (NYSE:CNC), and Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK). All of these stocks' market caps match TU's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position PH,28,516590,-2 FE,41,3727862,2 CNC,58,2067914,2 VRSK,20,494091,-10 Average,36.75,1701614,-2 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 36.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1702 million. That figure was $336 million in TU's case. Centene Corp (NYSE:CNC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) is the least popular one with only 20 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks TELUS Corporation (NYSE:TU) is even less popular than VRSK. Hedge funds dodged a bullet by taking a bearish stance towards TU. Our calculations showed that the top 20 most popular hedge fund stocks returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately TU wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was very bearish); TU investors were disappointed as the stock returned 0.2% during the same time frame and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in the second quarter.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Hedge Funds Have Never Been This Bullish On First Financial Bankshares Inc (FFIN)
It is already common knowledge that individual investors do not usually have the necessary resources and abilities to properly research an investment opportunity. As a result, most investors pick their illusory “winners” by making a superficial analysis and research that leads to poor performance on aggregate. Since stock returns aren't usually symmetrically distributed and index returns are more affected by a few outlier stocks (i.e. the FAANG stocks dominating and driving S&P 500 Index's returns in recent years), more than 50% of the constituents of the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index underperform the benchmark. Hence, if you randomly pick a stock, there is more than 50% chance that you'd fail to beat the market. At the same time, the 20 most favored S&P 500 stocks by the hedge funds monitored by Insider Monkey generated an outperformance of 6 percentage points during the first 5 months of 2019. Of course, hedge funds do make wrong bets on some occasions and these get disproportionately publicized on financial media, but piggybacking their moves can beat the broader market on average. That's why we are going to go over recent hedge fund activity in First Financial Bankshares Inc (NASDAQ:FFIN).
First Financial Bankshares Inc (NASDAQ:FFIN)shareholders have witnessed an increase in support from the world's most elite money managers recently.FFINwas in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. There were 6 hedge funds in our database with FFIN positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that FFIN isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
[caption id="attachment_746893" align="aligncenter" width="473"]
Paul Marshall of Marshall Wace[/caption]
We're going to analyze the key hedge fund action regarding First Financial Bankshares Inc (NASDAQ:FFIN).
At Q1's end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 117% from one quarter earlier. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards FFIN over the last 15 quarters. With hedge funds' capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey,Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, holds the biggest position in First Financial Bankshares Inc (NASDAQ:FFIN). Balyasny Asset Management has a $14.7 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Israel Englander ofMillennium Management, with a $5.7 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers that are bullish include Noam Gottesman'sGLG Partners, Paul Tudor Jones'sTudor Investment Corpand Benjamin A. Smith'sLaurion Capital Management.
Now, key money managers have been driving this bullishness.Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, assembled the most outsized position in First Financial Bankshares Inc (NASDAQ:FFIN). Millennium Management had $5.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Noam Gottesman'sGLG Partnersalso initiated a $2.8 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Paul Tudor Jones'sTudor Investment Corp, Benjamin A. Smith'sLaurion Capital Management, and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace'sMarshall Wace LLP.
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to First Financial Bankshares Inc (NASDAQ:FFIN). We will take a look at Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT), Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRL), Avalara, Inc. (NYSE:AVLR), and Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB). All of these stocks' market caps resemble FFIN's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position VRNT,22,370064,4 CBRL,23,144940,4 AVLR,27,889800,13 BLKB,11,72252,-2 Average,20.75,369264,4.75 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 20.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $369 million. That figure was $33 million in FFIN's case. Avalara, Inc. (NYSE:AVLR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLKB) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. First Financial Bankshares Inc (NASDAQ:FFIN) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. A small number of hedge funds were also right about betting on FFIN, though not to the same extent, as the stock returned 5.2% during the same time frame and outperformed the market as well.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks slip after Fed tempers aggressive rate cut expectations
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Fed's Powell, Bullard temper July rate cut expectations
* Dollar crawls up from 3-month lows on Fed officials' comments
By Shinichi Saoshiro
TOKYO, June 26 (Reuters) - Asian stocks slipped on Wednesday and the dollar pulled back from three-month lows after Federal Reserve officials tempered expectations in the markets for aggressive monetary easing.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday said the central bank is "insulated from short-term political pressures," pushing back against U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for a significant rate cut. Powell, however, said Fed policymakers are wrestling with whether uncertainties around U.S. tariffs, Washington's conflict with trading partners and tame inflation require a rate cut.
Separately, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard told Bloomberg Television he does not think the U.S. economy is dire enough to warrant a 50-basis-point cut in July, even though he pushed to lower rates last week.
Equity markets have rallied this month, with Wall Street shares advancing to record highs, after the Fed was seen to have opened the door to possible rate cuts as early as next month at is policy-setting meeting last week.
According to CME Group's FedWatch program, federal funds futures implied that traders saw a 27% chance of the Fed lowering rates by half a percentage point in July, compared to 42% on Monday.
Trump said on Twitter on Monday that the Fed "doesn't know what it is doing," adding that it "raised rates far too fast" and "blew it" given low inflation and slowing global growth.
Tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, Australian stocks dipped 0.15%, South Korea's KOSPI shed 0.1% and Japan's Nikkei retreated 0.6%.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was a shade lower.
"While Powell's comments do not alter expectations that the Fed will ease sooner or later, they do leave a slightly negative impact on equities," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.
"The focus is now on the G20 summit. Market expectations for a meaningful breakthrough being achieved in U.S.-China trade talks are quite low, so any signs of an improvement could bode well for risk sentiment."
The United States hopes to re-launch trade talks with Beijing after Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping meet in Japan during the G20 summit on Saturday but Washington will not accept any conditions on tariffs, a senior administration official said on Tuesday.
The two sides could agree not to impose new tariffs as a goodwill gesture to get negotiations going, the official said, but it was unclear if that would happen.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies stood at 96.177, holding to modest gains made the previous day.
The index had bounced back from 95.843 on Tuesday, its lowest level since March 21, following comments from the top Fed officials.
The dollar was steady at 107.160 yen after a rebound from a near six-month low of 106.780.
The greenback had sunk to the six-month trough as the yen, a perceived safe haven, had drawn bids in the face brewing U.S.-Iran tensions.
The euro was little changed at $1.1368 after being nudged off a three-month peak of $1.1412.
U.S. crude oil futures edged up to a four-week high of $58.87 per barrel after data showed a decline in U.S. crude stocks.
Spot gold slipped from a six-year high of $1,438.63 an ounce after the comments from Fed officials trimmed expectations for a rate hike in July. Gold last traded at $1,418.18 an ounce. (Editing by Shri Navaratnam) |
Did Bardoc Gold Limited (ASX:BDC) Insiders Buy Up More Shares?
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It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So before you buy or sellBardoc Gold Limited(ASX:BDC), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.
Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.'
View our latest analysis for Bardoc Gold
Non-Executive Director Peter Buttigieg made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$282k worth of shares at a price of AU$0.04 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of AU$0.052. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.
Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 21.3m shares worth AU$1.0m. Bardoc Gold may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. The average buy price was around AU$0.048. Although they bought at below the recent share price, it is good to see that insiders are willing to invest in the company. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
Bardoc Gold is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to findwinning investmentsthisfreelist of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
It's good to see that Bardoc Gold insiders have made notable investments in the company's shares. In total, insiders bought AU$629k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any sales whatsoever. This could be interpreted as suggesting a positive outlook.
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Bardoc Gold insiders own 18% of the company, worth about AU$11m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.
It is good to see recent purchasing. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. But on the other hand, the company made a loss last year, which makes us a little cautious. Insiders likely see value in Bardoc Gold shares, given these transactions (along with notable insider ownership of the company).I like to dive deeperinto how a company has performed in the past. You can findhistoric revenue and earnings in thisdetailed graph.
Of course,you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere.So take a peek at thisfreelist of interesting companies.
For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
This High-Yield Stock Could Become a High-Profile Acquisition Target
Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) has promised investors that it would sell between $10 billion and $15 billion of assets to help pay for its pricey acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) . The oil company has already agreed to flip Anadarko's African assets to French oil giant Total for $8.8 billion. It's now pressing forward with its next deal, which would see it unload a portion of its sizable stake in midstream MLP Western Midstream (NYSE: WES) , according to a report by Bloomberg. Given Western Midstream's attractive asset base , it could draw significant interest from buyers. That makes it an intriguing company for investors to watch in the coming months, especially those focused on income, since Western Midstream currently pays an enticing 8.2%-yielding distribution. A hand counting a stack of $100 bills. Image source: Getty Images. Drilling down into the report According to the Bloomberg report, Occidental Petroleum is seeking a buyer to take majority control of Western Midstream. The oil company will inherit Anadarko's 55% interest in the MLP when its acquisition closes. It's hoping to unload about half that stake to help pay for the purchase of Western's parent. Potential buyers of Occidental's interest would also likely buy out the 45% of Western Midstream that's currently publicly traded. That would enable a buyer to hold a majority stake in the company while allowing Occidental to retain a minority interest. That way, it can maintain some operational and financial control over the infrastructure that's crucial in transporting its production to market centers. While Occidental Petroleum has a long history of owning midstream infrastructure, the company recently parted ways with its Permian pipeline operations. Last year, the company cashed in on its oil gathering and storage business as well as its stake in a storage and export terminal near the Corpus Christi Ship Channel in two deals valuing the operations at $2.6 billion. That price netted it a premium of 14 times earnings, which was well above the 8 to 12 times earnings that midstream assets typically fetch. Hoping for another bidding war Occidental has already hired advisors to help it find a buyer for Western Midstream. According to Bloomberg, interested parties will likely include private equity firms as well as rival pipeline companies such as ONEOK , Enterprise Products Partners , and Energy Transfer . Western Midstream would undoubtedly be of interest to private equity, which has been increasingly investing in midstream assets. Blackstone , for example, teamed up with several investors to acquire a controlling interest in Tallgrass Energy earlier this year. It paid $3.2 billion for the stake in Tallgrass, which operates midstream infrastructure across 11 states and has several large-scale expansion projects in development . Story continues Meanwhile, leading asset manager Brookfield Asset Management has been investing in midstream assets through its infrastructure arm, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners . The companies recently teamed up to acquire Enbridge 's Western Canadian gathering and processing business. That's likely the first of many deals, given Brookfield Infrastructure's estimate that U.S. midstream companies need $150 billion of capital over the next five years to support their growth projects as well as the continued consolidation of the MLP market . On top of making acquisitions, private equity funds have invested in midstream start-ups as well as in infrastructure projects developed by publicly traded energy companies that needed funding. Large-scale MLPs like Enterprise Products Partners and Energy Transfer as well as pipeline companies such as ONEOK also seem like logical bidders for Western Midstream. Not only would it enable them to increase their footprint in the Permian Basin, but they'd benefit from the company's position in the DJ Basin. However, U.S. midstream companies have become increasingly focused on improving their investment returns in recent years. As such, they're not as interested in large-scale M&A transactions, since those typically require paying a high premium, which eats into returns. With that in mind, most publicly traded midstream companies will likely pass on bidding for Western Midstream unless they see it as a perfect fit. This deal has private equity written all over it Occidental Petroleum would like to monetize at least half of the Western Midstream stake it will soon acquire when it takes control of Anadarko Petroleum. While it would love to see a bidding war emerge for Western Midstream, that seems unlikely given that most publicly traded midstream companies don't seem very interested in large-scale M&A these days. So its best hope for maximizing the value of this position is for private equity players to bid against themselves. While that might happen, investors shouldn't buy Western Midstream in anticipation of a buyout, since a big premium might not materialize. More From The Motley Fool 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,728 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss 20 of the Top Stocks to Buy (Including the Two Every Investor Should Own) What Is an ETF? 5 Recession-Proof Stocks How to Beat the Market Matthew DiLallo owns shares of Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, Enbridge, and Enterprise Products Partners. The Motley Fool owns shares of Brookfield Asset Management and Enbridge. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . View comments |
After Hours: Micron Crushes Q3 Estimates, Target Deal Days Announced
What a difference a day makes.
Compared to last night's sleepy aftermarket, tonight's is buzzing with news. Here are three of the more attention-grabbing headlines impacting the market just now.
Image source: Target.
Flash memory specialistMicron Technology(NASDAQ: MU)is one of the most actively traded stocks tonight, plus one of the market's big gainers.
It's not hard to see why. The company's Q3 2019 results, posted after market close, handily beat analyst estimates and calmed some investor nerves. For the quarter, Micron's revenue was $4.79 billion, a 39% year-over-year decline. The company'snon-GAAP(adjusted) net profit saw a steeper fall, by 69% to just under $1.20 billion ($1.05 per share).
However, sinceMicron is facing a host of challenges-- weak prices for the types of memory it produces, the relationship with pariah Chinese tech giant Huawei, among other headaches -- the market was expecting worse. On average, analysts were projecting a top line of $4.69 billion and only $0.79 in per-share adjusted net profit.
Micron also proffered guidance for its current Q4. The company is anticipating revenue of $4.3 billion to $4.7 billion, with adjusted per-share earnings coming in at $0.38 to $0.52. The latter range is well below analyst estimates of $0.61.
Regardless, investors seem happy the company has done better than many anticipated. Micron's shares are currently up almost 8% from their closing price earlier today.
Turning the page on the Aftermarket Earnings Report logbook, we haveFedEx(NYSE: FDX). Like Micron, the logistics giant reported its latest quarterly results after the shuttering of the stock market.
FedEx's Q4 of fiscal 2019 saw the company reap $17.8 billion in revenue, up from the year-ago result of $17.3 billion. Adjusted net profit slid to $1.32 billion ($5.01 per share) against the Q4 2018 figure of $1.60 billion ($5.91).
That top-line number was essentially in line with the average analyst estimate, while the earnings figure exceeded projections. Prognosticators were anticipating only $4.85.
Despite the bottom-line beat, investors aren't rushing into FedEx stock at Micron-ish levels. It's up only marginally in post-market trading.
Perhaps one reason for this is the company's inability to provide meaningful guidance for fiscal 2020. It said this was due to difficulties estimating the financial impact of a company retirement plan. It added that it expected higher revenue and operating profit in its FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight units, although it did not get more specific.
This eveningTarget(NYSE: TGT)announced a new initiative called Target Deal Days. This July 15 and 16, the sprawling retailer will offer "thousands" of discounts and deals to shoppers. Pointedly, the company said that membership in the company's Target Circle loyalty program will not be required to take advantage of these come-ons.
If the timing of Target Deal Days sounds familiar to youAmazon.com(NASDAQ: AMZN)shoppers, it should. July 15 also happens to compriseAmazon's Prime Day, which is to be extended to July 16 this year, doubling the existing Prime Day. Similarly, Amazon rolls out a dizzying number of deals on its wares during that self-created retail holiday.
The key difference between Target Deal Days and Amazon Prime Day(s) is that the latter requires membership in Amazon Prime, the online retailer's popular loyalty program.
Target said that holders of its REDCard debit and credit cards would receive the standard 5% discount with those means of payment during Target Deal Days.
Investors seem to be meeting this news with a shrug in after-hours action -- Target stock is up only marginally, as is Amazon's. Yet it's a sensible, if reactive, move by Target to steal some of Amazon's summer thunder, and it'll produce an intense (albeit brief) battle for American consumer dollars.
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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.Eric Volkmanhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon and FedEx. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. |
Dollar gains on lower rate cut expectations, stocks flat
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar edged higher and European shares fell on Wednesday as traders curbed expectations of an aggressive U.S. interest rate cut in July, while Wall Street traded little changed on mixed signals over China-U.S. trade talks at the G20 summit in Japan.
Gold fell about 1% a day after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank is "insulated from short-term political pressures," suggesting policymakers would not bow to President Donald Trump's call to sharply cut rates.
Trump said Powell was doing a "bad job" and he urged the Fed to lower rates so that U.S. exports can compete with countries that he said are devaluing their currencies.
A pullback in the Japanese yen and Swiss franc was limited amid doubts the U.S.-China trade spat will be resolved soon. Bidding for both safe-haven currencies persisted amid tensions between Iran and the United States.
"Our expectation is that there will be some sort of trade truce or some goodwill signs coming out of the G20 meetings" between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds.
"But neither side is ready to end the war," Kelly said, predicting trade tensions would linger until the U.S. presidential election in November 2020.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump told Fox Business Network he would impose additional duties on Chinese imports if he does not clinch a deal with Xi.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.2% and the FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares closed down 0.3%.
U.S. stocks rose through much of the session, but Wall Street gave back gains and the benchmark S&P 500 and Dow industrials closed lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 11.4 points, or 0.04%, to 26,536.82. The S&P 500 lost 3.6 points, or 0.12%, to 2,913.78 and the Nasdaq Composite added 25.25 points, or 0.32%, to 7,909.97.
Gold dipped, snapping a six-session streak of gains. Prices hit a six-year peak of $1,438.63 on Tuesday, mostly on expectations the Fed would cut rates.
U.S. gold futures settled 0.2% lower to $1,415.40, but remained above $1,400.
The Fed is still on target to cut rates in July but that will not spur the economy, Kelly said.
"If they start to cut rates it will not boost economic growth and very likely it's the start of serious cuts, not just one," he said.
Bitcoin jumped to an 18-month high, as investors looked for alternative investments amid geopolitical tension, and cheered prospects that Facebook Inc's Libra token could push cryptocurrencies into the mainstream.The greenback traded at break-even against the euro at $1.1365, and the dollar index edged up 0.09%.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.58% versus the greenback at 107.79 per dollar.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 16/32 in price to lift its yield to 2.0485%.
Germany's 10-year bond yield nudged off record lows, with the Bund yielding minus 0.306%, just above record lows hit Tuesday at almost minus 0.34%.
Oil prices rose more than 2%, buoyed by U.S. government data that showed a much larger-than-expected drawdown in U.S. crude inventories and surprise drops in refined product stockpiles.
Brent crude futures settled up $1.44 at $66.49 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $1.55 to settle at $59.38 a barrel.
(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Susan Thomas and Lisa Shumaker) |
What Should We Expect From Bata India Limited's (NSE:BATAINDIA) Earnings Over The Next Few Years?
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The most recent earnings announcement Bata India Limited's (NSE:BATAINDIA) released in May 2019 revealed that the business experienced a robust tailwind, eventuating to a double-digit earnings growth of 49%. Today I want to provide a brief commentary on how market analysts predict Bata India's earnings growth trajectory over the next few years and whether the future looks even brighter than the past. I will be looking at earnings excluding extraordinary items to exclude one-off activities to get a better understanding of the underlying drivers of earnings.
View our latest analysis for Bata India
Analysts' expectations for the upcoming year seems positive, with earnings expanding by a robust 12%. This growth seems to continue into the following year with rates reaching double digit 32% compared to today’s earnings, and finally hitting ₹4.9b by 2022.
Although it’s helpful to be aware of the growth year by year relative to today’s value, it may be more beneficial to determine the rate at which the business is rising or falling on average every year. The benefit of this method is that we can get a better picture of the direction of Bata India's earnings trajectory over the long run, irrespective of near term fluctuations, which may be more relevant for long term investors. To compute this rate, I've appended a line of best fit through the forecasted earnings by market analysts. The slope of this line is the rate of earnings growth, which in this case is 13%. This means that, we can presume Bata India will grow its earnings by 13% every year for the next couple of years.
For Bata India, I've put together three fundamental aspects you should further examine:
1. Financial Health: Does it have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at ourfree balance sheet analysis with six simple checkson key factors like leverage and risk.
2. Valuation: What is BATAINDIA worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? Theintrinsic value infographic in our free research reporthelps visualize whether BATAINDIA is currently mispriced by the market.
3. Other High-Growth Alternatives: Are there other high-growth stocks you could be holding instead of BATAINDIA? Exploreour interactive list of stocks with large growth potentialto get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
What Are Analysts Saying About Bata India Limited's (NSE:BATAINDIA) Growth?
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Based on Bata India Limited's (NSE:BATAINDIA) earnings update in March 2019, analyst forecasts appear to be conservative, with earnings growth rate expected to be 12% next year, which is within range of the past five-year average earnings growth of 13%. By 2020, we can expect Bata India’s bottom line to reach ₹3.7b, a jump from the current trailing-twelve-month of ₹3.3b. In this article, I've outline a few earnings growth rates to give you a sense of the market sentiment for Bata India in the longer term. For those keen to understand more about other aspects of the company, you canresearch its fundamentals here.
View our latest analysis for Bata India
The longer term view from the 10 analysts covering BATAINDIA is one of positive sentiment. Generally, broker analysts tend to make predictions for up to three years given the lack of visibility beyond this point. I've plotted out each year's earnings expectations and inserted a line of best fit to calculate an annual growth rate from the slope in order to understand the overall trajectory of BATAINDIA's earnings growth over these next few years.
By 2022, BATAINDIA's earnings should reach ₹4.9b, from current levels of ₹3.3b, resulting in an annual growth rate of 13%. EPS reaches ₹38.49 in the final year of forecast compared to the current ₹25.6 EPS today. With a current profit margin of 11%, this movement will result in a margin of 12% by 2022.
Future outlook is only one aspect when you're building an investment case for a stock. For Bata India, I've compiled three relevant factors you should look at:
1. Financial Health: Does it have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at ourfree balance sheet analysis with six simple checkson key factors like leverage and risk.
2. Valuation: What is Bata India worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? Theintrinsic value infographic in our free research reporthelps visualize whether Bata India is currently mispriced by the market.
3. Other High-Growth Alternatives: Are there other high-growth stocks you could be holding instead of Bata India? Exploreour interactive list of stocks with large growth potentialto get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
A Look At Banka BioLoo Limited's (NSE:BANKA) Exceptional Fundamentals
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Banka BioLoo Limited (NSE:BANKA) is a stock with outstanding fundamental characteristics. When we build an investment case, we need to look at the stock with a holistic perspective. In the case of BANKA, it is a company with great financial health as well as a a strong track record of performance. In the following section, I expand a bit more on these key aspects. For those interested in digger a bit deeper into my commentary, read the fullreport on Banka BioLoo here.
In the past couple of years, BANKA has ramped up its bottom line by over 100%, with its latest earnings level surpassing its average level over the last five years. The strong earnings growth is reflected in impressive double-digit 21% return to shareholders, which is what investors like to see! BANKA's ability to maintain an adequate level of cash to meet upcoming liabilities is a good sign for its financial health. This implies that BANKA manages its cash and cost levels well, which is a crucial insight into the health of the company. BANKA’s debt-to-equity ratio stands at 3.5%, which means its debt level is low. BANKA has plenty of financial flexibility, without large debt obligations to meet in the short term, as well as the headroom to raise debt should it need to in the future.
For Banka BioLoo, I've compiled three fundamental factors you should further examine:
1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for BANKA’s future growth? Take a look at ourfree research report of analyst consensusfor BANKA’s outlook.
2. Valuation: What is BANKA worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? Theintrinsic value infographic in our free research reporthelps visualize whether BANKA is currently mispriced by the market.
3. Other Attractive Alternatives: Are there other well-rounded stocks you could be holding instead of BANKA? Exploreour interactive list of stocks with large potentialto get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Trilogy Metals Inc. (TMQ)
We at Insider Monkey have gone over 738 13F filings that hedge funds and famous value investors are required to file by the SEC. The 13F filings show the funds' and investors' portfolio positions as of March 31st. In this article we look at what those investors think of Trilogy Metals Inc. (NYSE:TMQ).
Trilogy Metals Inc. (NYSE:TMQ)investors should pay attention to an increase in support from the world's most elite money managers lately.TMQwas in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with TMQ positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that tmq isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let's view the recent hedge fund action encompassing Trilogy Metals Inc. (NYSE:TMQ).
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 8% from the previous quarter. By comparison, 10 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in TMQ a year ago. So, let's see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in Trilogy Metals Inc. (NYSE:TMQ) was held byBaupost Group, which reported holding $32 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by Paulson & Co with a $28.5 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Selz Capital, Millennium Management, and Point State Capital.
Now, key money managers were leading the bulls' herd.DW Partners, managed by David Warren, assembled the biggest position in Trilogy Metals Inc. (NYSE:TMQ). DW Partners had $2.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Mark Kingdon'sKingdon Capitalalso made a $2.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Trilogy Metals Inc. (NYSE:TMQ) but similarly valued. These stocks are Camtek LTD. (NASDAQ:CAMT), BSB Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BLMT), Standard Diversified Inc. (NYSE:SDI), and Orchid Island Capital, Inc. (NYSE:ORC). All of these stocks' market caps are closest to TMQ's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position CAMT,10,23041,0 BLMT,7,28681,1 SDI,3,6001,0 ORC,3,7254,-3 Average,5.75,16244,-0.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 5.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $16 million. That figure was $120 million in TMQ's case. Camtek LTD. (NASDAQ:CAMT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Standard Diversified Inc. (NYSE:SDI) is the least popular one with only 3 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Trilogy Metals Inc. (NYSE:TMQ) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on TMQ as the stock returned 18.7% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin. Hedge funds were clearly right about piling into this stock relative to other stocks with similar market capitalizations.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Hedge Funds Have Never Been This Bullish On Aquantia Corp. (AQ)
The latest 13F reporting period has come and gone, and Insider Monkey is again at the forefront when it comes to making use of this gold mine of data. We have processed the filings of the more than 700 world-class investment firms that we track and now have access to the collective wisdom contained in these filings, which are based on their March 31 holdings, data that is available nowhere else. Should you consider Aquantia Corp. (NYSE:AQ) for your portfolio? We'll look to this invaluable collective wisdom for the answer.
IsAquantia Corp. (NYSE:AQ)the right investment to pursue these days? Money managers are turning bullish. The number of long hedge fund bets moved up by 6 in recent months. Our calculations also showed that aq isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.AQwas in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with AQ holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In today’s marketplace there are many indicators stock market investors employ to value their holdings. A pair of the most under-the-radar indicators are hedge fund and insider trading activity. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can outperform the broader indices by a healthy margin (see the details here).
We're going to take a glance at the recent hedge fund action encompassing Aquantia Corp. (NYSE:AQ).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 86% from the previous quarter. On the other hand, there were a total of 2 hedge funds with a bullish position in AQ a year ago. So, let's see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds,Masters Capital Managementheld the most valuable stake in Aquantia Corp. (NYSE:AQ), which was worth $11 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was Millennium Management which amassed $3.4 million worth of shares. Moreover, Renaissance Technologies, Jasper Ridge Partners, and D E Shaw were also bullish on Aquantia Corp. (NYSE:AQ), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
As aggregate interest increased, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness.D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, established the biggest position in Aquantia Corp. (NYSE:AQ). D E Shaw had $1.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Brett Hendrickson'sNokomis Capitalalso made a $0.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new AQ positions are Ken Griffin'sCitadel Investment Group, Peter Muller'sPDT Partners, and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace'sMarshall Wace LLP.
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Aquantia Corp. (NYSE:AQ). These stocks are Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (NYSE:WHG), DSP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSPG), Park Electrochemical Corp. (NYSE:PKE), and Aduro BioTech Inc (NASDAQ:ADRO). This group of stocks' market values are closest to AQ's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position WHG,11,52054,2 DSPG,13,78336,0 PKE,10,71997,1 ADRO,12,22456,5 Average,11.5,56211,2 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 11.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $56 million. That figure was $22 million in AQ's case. DSP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSPG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Park Electrochemical Corp. (NYSE:PKE) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Aquantia Corp. (NYSE:AQ) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on AQ as the stock returned 44.2% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Hedge Funds Have Never Been More Bullish On DSP Group, Inc. (DSPG)
Investing in small cap stocks has historically been a way to outperform the market, as small cap companies typically grow faster on average than the blue chips. That outperformance comes with a price, however, as there are occasional periods of higher volatility. The last 8 months is one of those periods, as the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) has underperformed the larger S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 9 percentage points. Given that the funds we track tend to have a disproportionate amount of their portfolios in smaller cap stocks, they have seen some volatility in their portfolios too. Actually their moves are potentially one of the factors that contributed to this volatility. In this article, we use our extensive database of hedge fund holdings to find out what the smart money thinks of DSP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSPG).
Hedge fund interest inDSP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSPG)shares was flat at the end of last quarter. This is usually a negative indicator. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren't the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds' perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That's why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Park Electrochemical Corp. (NYSE:PKE), Aduro BioTech Inc (NASDAQ:ADRO), and North American Construction Group Ltd. (NYSE:NOA) to gather more data points.
In the eyes of most shareholders, hedge funds are perceived as unimportant, old investment vehicles of the past. While there are over 8000 funds in operation today, Our experts choose to focus on the moguls of this group, approximately 750 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group of people shepherd most of the hedge fund industry's total capital, and by following their matchless equity investments, Insider Monkey has spotted a few investment strategies that have historically defeated the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey's flagship hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by around 5 percentage points annually since its inception in May 2014 through June 18th. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 28.2% since February 2017 (through June 18th) even though the market was up nearly 30% during the same period. We just shared a list of 5 short targets in ourlatest quarterly updateand they are already down an average of 8.2% in a month whereas our long picks outperformed the market by 2.5 percentage points in this volatile 5 week period (our long picks also beat the market by 15 percentage points so far this year).
Let's take a gander at the fresh hedge fund action surrounding DSP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSPG).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in DSPG over the last 15 quarters. So, let's find out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in DSP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSPG) was held byRaging Capital Management, which reported holding $30.6 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by Rima Senvest Management with a $16.7 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Renaissance Technologies, Lynrock Lake, and D E Shaw.
Due to the fact that DSP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSPG) has witnessed bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, we can see that there was a specific group of hedge funds that decided to sell off their entire stakes heading into Q3. Intriguingly, Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron'sAlgert Coldiron Investorssaid goodbye to the biggest investment of the 700 funds monitored by Insider Monkey, valued at about $0.4 million in stock. Josh Goldberg's fund,G2 Investment Partners Management, also said goodbye to its stock, about $0.2 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as DSP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSPG) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Park Electrochemical Corp. (NYSE:PKE), Aduro BioTech Inc (NASDAQ:ADRO), North American Construction Group Ltd. (NYSE:NOA), and The Rubicon Project Inc (NYSE:RUBI). This group of stocks' market values are similar to DSPG's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position PKE,10,71997,1 ADRO,12,22456,5 NOA,8,51097,0 RUBI,25,61783,3 Average,13.75,51833,2.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 13.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $52 million. That figure was $78 million in DSPG's case. The Rubicon Project Inc (NYSE:RUBI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand North American Construction Group Ltd. (NYSE:NOA) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. DSP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSPG) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately DSPG wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was quite bearish); DSPG investors were disappointed as the stock returned 3.6% during the same time period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Hedge Funds Have Never Been This Bullish On Telaria, Inc. (TLRA)
Insider Monkey has processed numerous 13F filings of hedge funds and successful investors to create an extensive database of hedge fund holdings. The 13F filings show the hedge funds' and successful investors' positions as of the end of the first quarter. You can find write-ups about an individual hedge fund's trades on numerous financial news websites. However, in this article we will take a look at their collective moves and analyze what the smart money thinks of Telaria, Inc. (NYSE:TLRA) based on that data.
IsTelaria, Inc. (NYSE:TLRA)going to take off soon? The smart money is taking an optimistic view. The number of long hedge fund positions improved by 5 lately. Our calculations also showed that tlra isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.TLRAwas in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. There were 8 hedge funds in our database with TLRA positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In today’s marketplace there are numerous formulas shareholders have at their disposal to analyze publicly traded companies. A couple of the most useful formulas are hedge fund and insider trading activity. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a significant margin (see the details here).
We're going to take a glance at the new hedge fund action encompassing Telaria, Inc. (NYSE:TLRA).
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 63% from the previous quarter. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in TLRA over the last 15 quarters. So, let's find out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds,Stone House Capitalheld the most valuable stake in Telaria, Inc. (NYSE:TLRA), which was worth $13.3 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was Royce & Associates which amassed $12.2 million worth of shares. Moreover, Cannell Capital, Renaissance Technologies, and Driehaus Capital were also bullish on Telaria, Inc. (NYSE:TLRA), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
As one would reasonably expect, key money managers were leading the bulls' herd.Stone House Capital, managed by Mark Cohen, assembled the largest position in Telaria, Inc. (NYSE:TLRA). Stone House Capital had $13.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Richard Driehaus'sDriehaus Capitalalso made a $10.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Israel Englander'sMillennium Management, Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron'sAlgert Coldiron Investors, and Ravee Mehta'sNishkama Capital.
Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Telaria, Inc. (NYSE:TLRA). These stocks are Kandi Technologies Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:KNDI), Silicom Ltd. (NASDAQ:SILC), Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE:LL), and Regional Management Corp (NYSE:RM). This group of stocks' market values match TLRA's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position KNDI,3,2803,2 SILC,8,8347,0 LL,8,20189,0 RM,13,75137,1 Average,8,26619,0.75 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 8 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $27 million. That figure was $69 million in TLRA's case. Regional Management Corp (NYSE:RM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Kandi Technologies Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:KNDI) is the least popular one with only 3 bullish hedge fund positions. Telaria, Inc. (NYSE:TLRA) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on TLRA as the stock returned 27.9% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Regional Management Corp (RM)
At Insider Monkey we follow nearly 750 of the best-performing investors and even though many of them lost money in the last couple of months of 2018 (some actually delivered very strong returns), the history teaches us that over the long-run they still manage to beat the market, which is why it can be profitable for us to imitate their activity. Of course, even the best money managers can sometimes get it wrong, but following some of their picks gives us a better chance to outperform the crowd than picking a random stock and this is where our research comes in.
Regional Management Corp (NYSE:RM)was in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. RM has seen an increase in support from the world's most elite money managers lately. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with RM positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that rm isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter.
We're going to take a glance at the fresh hedge fund action encompassing Regional Management Corp (NYSE:RM).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 8% from the fourth quarter of 2018. On the other hand, there were a total of 9 hedge funds with a bullish position in RM a year ago. So, let's review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in Regional Management Corp (NYSE:RM) was held byBasswood Capital, which reported holding $37.3 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by Renaissance Technologies with a $11.1 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Cannell Capital, GLG Partners, and Arrowstreet Capital.
Consequently, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves.Winton Capital Management, managed by David Harding, assembled the most outsized position in Regional Management Corp (NYSE:RM). Winton Capital Management had $0.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Regional Management Corp (NYSE:RM) but similarly valued. These stocks are Entravision Communication Corporation (NYSE:EVC), Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB), USD Partners LP (NYSE:USDP), and Nordic American Tanker Ltd (NYSE:NAT). This group of stocks' market valuations are similar to RM's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position EVC,11,18168,-1 MCB,8,53783,1 USDP,4,3866,3 NAT,7,5932,1 Average,7.5,20437,1 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 7.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $20 million. That figure was $75 million in RM's case. Entravision Communication Corporation (NYSE:EVC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand USD Partners LP (NYSE:USDP) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Regional Management Corp (NYSE:RM) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on RM, though not to the same extent, as the stock returned 4% during the same period and outperformed the market as well.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (PDM)
The elite funds run by legendary investors such as David Tepper and Dan Loeb make hundreds of millions of dollars for themselves and their investors by spending enormous resources doing research on small cap stocks that big investment banks don't follow. Because of their pay structures, they have strong incentives to do the research necessary to beat the market. That's why we pay close attention to what they think in small cap stocks. In this article, we take a closer look at Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) from the perspective of those elite funds.
Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)investors should pay attention to a decrease in activity from the world's largest hedge funds recently. Our calculations also showed that PDM isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter.
We're going to take a look at the key hedge fund action encompassing Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM).
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of -7% from the fourth quarter of 2018. On the other hand, there were a total of 11 hedge funds with a bullish position in PDM a year ago. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds,Renaissance Technologiesheld the most valuable stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM), which was worth $67.9 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was AEW Capital Management which amassed $54.5 million worth of shares. Moreover, GLG Partners, Citadel Investment Group, and Millennium Management were also bullish on Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
Due to the fact that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) has witnessed bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, it's safe to say that there lies a certain "tier" of hedgies who sold off their positions entirely heading into Q3. It's worth mentioning that David Costen Haley'sHBK Investmentscut the largest stake of the 700 funds monitored by Insider Monkey, totaling about $0.4 million in stock. Michael Gelband's fund,ExodusPoint Capital, also said goodbye to its stock, about $0.3 million worth. These moves are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds heading into Q3.
Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM). These stocks are Nextera Energy Partners LP (NYSE:NEP), Terreno Realty Corporation (NYSE:TRNO), Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP), and California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT). This group of stocks' market valuations match PDM's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position NEP,9,15427,-3 TRNO,13,63355,3 ARLP,8,108477,0 CWT,8,22601,0 Average,9.5,52465,0 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 9.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $52 million. That figure was $147 million in PDM's case. Terreno Realty Corporation (NYSE:TRNO) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately PDM wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on PDM were disappointed as the stock returned 1.5% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Is Chaparral Energy, Inc. (CHAP) A Good Stock To Buy?
The first quarter was a breeze as Powell pivoted, and China seemed eager to reach a deal with Trump. Both the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 delivered very strong gains as a result, with the Russell 2000, which is composed of smaller companies, outperforming the large-cap stocks slightly during the first quarter. Unfortunately sentiment shifted in May as this time China pivoted and Trump put more pressure on China by increasing tariffs. Hedge funds' top 20 stock picks performed spectacularly in this volatile environment. These stocks delivered a total gain of 18.7% through May 30th, vs. a gain of 12.1% for the S&P 500 ETF. In this article we will look at how this market volatility affected the sentiment of hedge funds towards Chaparral Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CHAP), and what that likely means for the prospects of the company and its stock.
IsChaparral Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CHAP)a bargain? The smart money is becoming less confident. The number of long hedge fund positions shrunk by 1 lately. Our calculations also showed that chap isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let's view the latest hedge fund action encompassing Chaparral Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CHAP).
At Q1's end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -7% from the previous quarter. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in CHAP over the last 15 quarters. With hedge funds' capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
More specifically,Silver Point Capitalwas the largest shareholder of Chaparral Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CHAP), with a stake worth $25.2 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Silver Point Capital was Contrarian Capital, which amassed a stake valued at $21.6 million. Strategic Value Partners, Fir Tree, and Knighthead Capital were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Judging by the fact that Chaparral Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CHAP) has faced a decline in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it's easy to see that there was a specific group of money managers that slashed their full holdings in the third quarter. Interestingly, Ken Griffin'sCitadel Investment Groupsaid goodbye to the biggest investment of the 700 funds followed by Insider Monkey, worth about $8 million in stock, and Karim Abbadi and Edward McBride's Centiva Capital was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $0.1 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds in the third quarter.
Let's now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Chaparral Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CHAP) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Marlin Business Services Corp. (NASDAQ:MRLN), Gold Standard Ventures Corp (NYSE:GSV), SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK), and Bel Fuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFA). This group of stocks' market values are similar to CHAP's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position MRLN,5,85316,0 GSV,3,1129,-3 SMBK,6,23070,1 BELFA,4,8713,0 Average,4.5,29557,-0.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 4.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $30 million. That figure was $100 million in CHAP's case. SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Gold Standard Ventures Corp (NYSE:GSV) is the least popular one with only 3 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Chaparral Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CHAP) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately CHAP wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on CHAP were disappointed as the stock returned -40% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Hedge Funds Have Never Been More Bullish On Savara, Inc. (SVRA)
There are several ways to beat the market, and investing in small cap stocks has historically been one of them. We like to improve the odds of beating the market further by examining what famous hedge fund operators such as Jeff Ubben, George Soros and Carl Icahn think. Those hedge fund operators make billions of dollars each year by hiring the best and the brightest to do research on stocks, including small cap stocks that big brokerage houses simply don't cover. Because of Carl Icahn and other elite funds' exemplary historical records, we pay attention to their small cap picks. In this article, we use hedge fund filing data to analyze Savara, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVRA).
Savara, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVRA)shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund sentiment recently.SVRAwas in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with SVRA holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that svra isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
To most investors, hedge funds are perceived as unimportant, old investment tools of the past. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at present, Our experts hone in on the crème de la crème of this club, approximately 750 funds. These investment experts orchestrate bulk of the hedge fund industry's total capital, and by tailing their best stock picks, Insider Monkey has come up with various investment strategies that have historically outrun the broader indices. Insider Monkey's flagship hedge fund strategy defeated the S&P 500 index by around 5 percentage points annually since its inception in May 2014 through June 18th. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 28.2% since February 2017 (through June 18th) even though the market was up nearly 30% during the same period. We just shared a list of 5 short targets in ourlatest quarterly updateand they are already down an average of 8.2% in a month whereas our long picks outperformed the market by 2.5 percentage points in this volatile 5 week period (our long picks also beat the market by 15 percentage points so far this year).
Let's view the key hedge fund action regarding Savara, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVRA).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 8% from one quarter earlier. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in SVRA over the last 15 quarters. With hedge funds' positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an "upper tier" of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
Among these funds,Consonance Capital Managementheld the most valuable stake in Savara, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVRA), which was worth $22.8 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was Farallon Capital which amassed $17.9 million worth of shares. Moreover, Sectoral Asset Management, Mangrove Partners, and Great Point Partners were also bullish on Savara, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVRA), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
As aggregate interest increased, key money managers have jumped into Savara, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVRA) headfirst.DAFNA Capital Management, managed by Nathan Fischel, established the most valuable position in Savara, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVRA). DAFNA Capital Management had $0.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons'sRenaissance Technologiesalso initiated a $0.5 million position during the quarter.
Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Savara, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVRA). These stocks are Immersion Corporation (NASDAQ:IMMR), Global Medical REIT Inc. (NYSE:GMRE), MutualFirst Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:MFSF), and PDL Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:PDLB). This group of stocks' market valuations are closest to SVRA's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position IMMR,16,86536,3 GMRE,16,34770,7 MFSF,3,24850,0 PDLB,2,1874,0 Average,9.25,37008,2.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 9.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $37 million. That figure was $64 million in SVRA's case. Immersion Corporation (NASDAQ:IMMR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand PDL Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:PDLB) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Savara, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVRA) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately SVRA wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on SVRA were disappointed as the stock returned -63.2% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Flagstar Bancorp Inc (FBC)
The 700+ hedge funds and famous money managers tracked by Insider Monkey have already compiled and submitted their 13F filings for the first quarter, which unveil their equity positions as of March 31. We went through these filings, fixed typos and other more significant errors and identified the changes in hedge fund portfolios. Our extensive review of these public filings is finally over, so this article is set to reveal the smart money sentiment towards Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC).
IsFlagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC)worth your attention right now? Money managers are in a bullish mood. The number of long hedge fund bets rose by 2 lately. Our calculations also showed that FBC isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.FBCwas in 14 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with FBC holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In the financial world there are plenty of methods investors have at their disposal to value their holdings. Two of the most under-the-radar methods are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a solid margin (see the details here).
We're going to take a gander at the fresh hedge fund action regarding Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC).
At Q1's end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 17% from one quarter earlier. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in FBC over the last 15 quarters. With the smart money's sentiment swirling, there exists an "upper tier" of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
More specifically,GoldenTree Asset Managementwas the largest shareholder of Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC), with a stake worth $23.5 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing GoldenTree Asset Management was Renaissance Technologies, which amassed a stake valued at $16.4 million. D E Shaw, Millennium Management, and Balyasny Asset Management were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers have jumped into Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC) headfirst.Second Curve Capital, managed by Tom Brown, created the largest position in Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC). Second Curve Capital had $4.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ravi Chopra'sAzora Capitalalso made a $3.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Benjamin A. Smith'sLaurion Capital Management, Ken Griffin'sCitadel Investment Group, and David Harding'sWinton Capital Management.
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC). These stocks are Enanta Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ENTA), Verra Mobility Corporation (NASDAQ:VRRM), ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA), and LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN). All of these stocks' market caps are closest to FBC's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position ENTA,20,290378,0 VRRM,14,187599,1 PRA,14,153430,1 LPSN,21,239043,4 Average,17.25,217613,1.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 17.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $218 million. That figure was $78 million in FBC's case. LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Verra Mobility Corporation (NASDAQ:VRRM) is the least popular one with only 14 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC) is even less popular than VRRM. Hedge funds dodged a bullet by taking a bearish stance towards FBC. Our calculations showed that the top 20 most popular hedge fund stocks returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately FBC wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was very bearish); FBC investors were disappointed as the stock returned -1.6% during the same time frame and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in the second quarter.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Applied Optoelectronics Inc (AAOI)
Hedge funds are known to underperform the bull markets but that's not because they are terrible at stock picking. Hedge funds underperform because their net exposure in only 40-70% and they charge exorbitant fees. No one knows what the future holds and how market participants will react to the bountiful news that floods in each day. However, hedge funds' consensus picks on average deliver market beating returns. For example in the first 5 months of this year through May 30th the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index returned approximately 12.1% (including dividend payments). Conversely, hedge funds’ top 20 large-cap stock picks generated a return of 18.7% during the same 5-month period, with the majority of these stock picks outperforming the broader market benchmark. Interestingly, an average long/short hedge fund returned only a fraction of this value due to the hedges they implemented and the large fees they charged. If you pay attention to the actual hedge fund returns versus the returns of their long stock picks, you might believe that it is a waste of time to analyze hedge funds' purchases. We know better. That's why we scrutinize hedge fund sentiment before we invest in a stock like Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI).
Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI)shareholders have witnessed an increase in support from the world's most elite money managers lately. Our calculations also showed that AAOI isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
We're going to take a look at the recent hedge fund action surrounding Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 18% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards AAOI over the last 15 quarters. So, let's review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI) was held byNewtyn Management, which reported holding $4.2 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by Royce & Associates with a $3.9 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Citadel Investment Group, Alyeska Investment Group, and Citadel Investment Group.
As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves.Newtyn Management, managed by Noah Levy and Eugene Dozortsev, initiated the biggest position in Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI). Newtyn Management had $4.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Chuck Royce'sRoyce & Associatesalso initiated a $3.9 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new AAOI investors: Anand Parekh'sAlyeska Investment Group, D. E. Shaw'sD E Shaw, and Jim Simons'sRenaissance Technologies.
Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI). These stocks are Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX), NCS Multistage Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCSM), Gold Resource Corporation (NYSE:GORO), and Cytosorbents Corp (NASDAQ:CTSO). All of these stocks' market caps match AAOI's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position NVAX,11,8979,-2 NCSM,5,1509,1 GORO,9,14483,2 CTSO,7,7323,-2 Average,8,8074,-0.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 8 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $8 million. That figure was $20 million in AAOI's case. Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand NCS Multistage Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCSM) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately AAOI wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on AAOI were disappointed as the stock returned -28% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Hedge Funds Have Never Been More Bullish On Terreno Realty Corporation (TRNO)
The elite funds run by legendary investors such as David Tepper and Dan Loeb make hundreds of millions of dollars for themselves and their investors by spending enormous resources doing research on small cap stocks that big investment banks don't follow. Because of their pay structures, they have strong incentives to do the research necessary to beat the market. That's why we pay close attention to what they think in small cap stocks. In this article, we take a closer look at Terreno Realty Corporation (NYSE:TRNO) from the perspective of those elite funds.
Terreno Realty Corporation (NYSE:TRNO)has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest of late. Our calculations also showed that TRNO isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let's check out the new hedge fund action encompassing Terreno Realty Corporation (NYSE:TRNO).
At Q1's end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 30% from one quarter earlier. On the other hand, there were a total of 7 hedge funds with a bullish position in TRNO a year ago. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
More specifically,Millennium Managementwas the largest shareholder of Terreno Realty Corporation (NYSE:TRNO), with a stake worth $27.3 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Millennium Management was Citadel Investment Group, which amassed a stake valued at $9.1 million. Renaissance Technologies, Two Sigma Advisors, and Impax Asset Management were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Now, specific money managers were leading the bulls' herd.Marshall Wace LLP, managed by Paul Marshall and Ian Wace, created the most valuable position in Terreno Realty Corporation (NYSE:TRNO). Marshall Wace LLP had $1.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Bruce Kovner'sCaxton Associates LPalso made a $0.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new TRNO investors: Matthew Tewksbury'sStevens Capital Managementand Dmitry Balyasny'sBalyasny Asset Management.
Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Terreno Realty Corporation (NYSE:TRNO). These stocks are Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP), California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT), CNO Financial Group Inc (NYSE:CNO), and Agree Realty Corporation (NYSE:ADC). This group of stocks' market valuations match TRNO's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position ARLP,8,108477,0 CWT,8,22601,0 CNO,13,158581,2 ADC,8,36435,-3 Average,9.25,81524,-0.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 9.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $82 million. That figure was $63 million in TRNO's case. CNO Financial Group Inc (NYSE:CNO) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Terreno Realty Corporation (NYSE:TRNO) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on TRNO as the stock returned 15.3% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Hedge Funds Have Never Been This Bullish On Verastem Inc (VSTM)
Amid an overall bull market, many stocks that smart money investors were collectively bullish on surged during the first quarter. Among them, Facebook and Microsoft ranked among the top 3 picks and these stocks gained 40% and 25% respectively. Our research shows that most of the stocks that smart money likes historically generate strong risk-adjusted returns. That's why we weren't surprised when hedge funds’ top 20 large-cap stock picks generated a return of 18.7% during the first 5 months of 2019 and outperformed the broader market benchmark by 6.6 percentage points.This is why following the smart money sentiment is a useful tool at identifying the next stock to invest in.
Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM)has seen an increase in activity from the world's largest hedge funds recently.VSTMwas in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. There were 10 hedge funds in our database with VSTM holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that vstm isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the financial world there are a large number of tools investors have at their disposal to grade stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid amount. Insider Monkey's flagship best performing hedge funds strategy returned 25.8% year to date (through May 30th) and outperformed the market even though it draws its stock picks among small-cap stocks. This strategy also outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since its inception (see the details here). That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is a useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
[caption id="attachment_745225" align="aligncenter" width="473"]
Noam Gottesman, GLG Partners[/caption]
Let's take a gander at the recent hedge fund action regarding Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 30% from the previous quarter. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in VSTM over the last 15 quarters. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
More specifically,Biotechnology Value Fund / BVF Incwas the largest shareholder of Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM), with a stake worth $10.4 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Biotechnology Value Fund / BVF Inc was Renaissance Technologies, which amassed a stake valued at $3.2 million. Citadel Investment Group, GLG Partners, and Millennium Management were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names have jumped into Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM) headfirst.Marshall Wace LLP, managed by Paul Marshall and Ian Wace, established the most outsized position in Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM). Marshall Wace LLP had $0.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Daniel S. Och'sOZ Managementalso made a $0.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Michael Platt and William Reeves'sBlueCrest Capital Mgmt.and David Harding'sWinton Capital Management.
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM). We will take a look at The New Germany Fund, Inc. (NYSE:GF), MEI Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:MEIP), Twin Disc, Incorporated (NASDAQ:TWIN), and Tiptree Inc. (NASDAQ:TIPT). All of these stocks' market caps match VSTM's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position GF,1,312,0 MEIP,15,60385,-1 TWIN,5,31421,-2 TIPT,5,3277,2 Average,6.5,23849,-0.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 6.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $24 million. That figure was $21 million in VSTM's case. MEI Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:MEIP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand The New Germany Fund, Inc. (NYSE:GF) is the least popular one with only 1 bullish hedge fund positions. Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately VSTM wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on VSTM were disappointed as the stock returned -35.8% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Hedge Funds Have Never Been This Bullish On Apyx Medical Corporation (APYX)
Before we spend days researching a stock idea we like to take a look at how hedge funds and billionaire investors recently traded that stock. The S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY) lost 2.6% in the first two months of the second quarter. Ten out of 11 industry groups in the S&P 500 Index lost value in May. The average return of a randomly picked stock in the index was even worse (-3.6%). This means you (or a monkey throwing a dart) have less than an even chance of beating the market by randomly picking a stock. On the other hand, the top 20 most popular S&P 500 stocks among hedge funds not only generated positive returns but also outperformed the index by about 3 percentage points through May 30th. In this article, we will take a look at what hedge funds think about Apyx Medical Corporation (NASDAQ:APYX).
IsApyx Medical Corporation (NASDAQ:APYX)going to take off soon? The best stock pickers are in an optimistic mood. The number of bullish hedge fund bets inched up by 4 lately. Our calculations also showed that apyx isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let's analyze the recent hedge fund action surrounding Apyx Medical Corporation (NASDAQ:APYX).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 44% from one quarter earlier. By comparison, 4 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in APYX a year ago. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in Apyx Medical Corporation (NASDAQ:APYX) was held byArchon Capital Management, which reported holding $9.6 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by Royce & Associates with a $4.8 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Renaissance Technologies, Horizon Asset Management, and Millennium Management.
Now, some big names have jumped into Apyx Medical Corporation (NASDAQ:APYX) headfirst.Archon Capital Management, managed by Constantinos J. Christofilis, assembled the most outsized position in Apyx Medical Corporation (NASDAQ:APYX). Archon Capital Management had $9.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Chuck Royce'sRoyce & Associatesalso made a $4.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Jim Simons'sRenaissance Technologies, Murray Stahl'sHorizon Asset Management, and Israel Englander'sMillennium Management.
Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Apyx Medical Corporation (NASDAQ:APYX) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADES), Independence Contract Drilling Inc (NYSE:ICD), Del Frisco's Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ:DFRG), and Nemaura Medical Inc. (NASDAQ:NMRD). This group of stocks' market valuations match APYX's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position ADES,6,36808,0 ICD,13,95880,1 DFRG,14,80979,1 NMRD,1,36,1 Average,8.5,53426,0.75 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 8.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $53 million. That figure was $28 million in APYX's case. Del Frisco's Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ:DFRG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Nemaura Medical Inc. (NASDAQ:NMRD) is the least popular one with only 1 bullish hedge fund positions. Apyx Medical Corporation (NASDAQ:APYX) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on APYX, though not to the same extent, as the stock returned 5.4% during the same time frame and outperformed the market as well.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About ProAssurance Corporation (PRA)
Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) lagged the larger S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 9 percentage points since the end of the third quarter of 2018 as investors worried over the possible ramifications of rising interest rates and escalation of the trade war with China. The hedge funds and institutional investors we track typically invest more in smaller-cap stocks than an average investor (i.e. only 298 S&P 500 constituents were among the 500 most popular stocks among hedge funds), and we have seen data that shows those funds paring back their overall exposure. Those funds cutting positions in small-caps is one reason why volatility has increased. In the following paragraphs, we take a closer look at what hedge funds and prominent investors think of ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA) and see how the stock is affected by the recent hedge fund activity.
ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA)was in 14 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. PRA has seen an increase in activity from the world's largest hedge funds in recent months. There were 13 hedge funds in our database with PRA holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that PRA isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let's take a look at the recent hedge fund action surrounding ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 8% from the previous quarter. By comparison, 12 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in PRA a year ago. So, let's see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds,Royce & Associatesheld the most valuable stake in ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA), which was worth $58.5 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was Diamond Hill Capital which amassed $33.2 million worth of shares. Moreover, Renaissance Technologies, Polar Capital, and Citadel Investment Group were also bullish on ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
Now, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness.Minerva Advisors, managed by David P. Cohen, established the largest position in ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA). Minerva Advisors had $1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Michael Gelband'sExodusPoint Capitalalso made a $0.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new PRA investors: Minhua Zhang'sWeld Capital Management, Matthew Hulsizer'sPEAK6 Capital Management, and Andrew Feldstein and Stephen Siderow'sBlue Mountain Capital.
Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA) but similarly valued. These stocks are LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN), Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP), QEP Resources Inc (NYSE:QEP), and Atara Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATRA). This group of stocks' market values match PRA's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position LPSN,21,239043,4 CMP,13,100028,1 QEP,23,291990,-2 ATRA,15,672346,4 Average,18,325852,1.75 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 18 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $326 million. That figure was $153 million in PRA's case. QEP Resources Inc (NYSE:QEP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. A small number of hedge funds were also right about betting on PRA as the stock returned 8.4% during the same time frame and outperformed the market by an even larger margin.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Independence Contract Drilling Inc (ICD)
Hedge funds are not perfect. They have their bad picks just like everyone else. Facebook, a stock hedge funds have loved dearly, lost nearly 40% of its value at one point in 2018. Although hedge funds are not perfect, their consensus picks do deliver solid returns, however. Our data show the top 20 S&P 500 stocks among hedge funds beat the S&P 500 Index by more than 6 percentage points so far in 2019. Because hedge funds have a lot of resources and their consensus picks do well, we pay attention to what they think. In this article, we analyze what the elite funds think of Independence Contract Drilling Inc (NYSE:ICD).
IsIndependence Contract Drilling Inc (NYSE:ICD)a worthy investment now? The smart money is turning bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went up by 1 in recent months. Our calculations also showed that icd isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.ICDwas in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with ICD holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter.
We're going to take a glance at the fresh hedge fund action regarding Independence Contract Drilling Inc (NYSE:ICD).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 8% from the previous quarter. By comparison, 9 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in ICD a year ago. With hedge funds' positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were adding to their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
More specifically,MSDC Managementwas the largest shareholder of Independence Contract Drilling Inc (NYSE:ICD), with a stake worth $52.1 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing MSDC Management was MSD Capital, which amassed a stake valued at $12.4 million. Birch Grove Capital, Adage Capital Management, and Royce & Associates were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Now, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves.MSD Capital, managed by Glenn Fuhrman and John Phelan, established the most outsized position in Independence Contract Drilling Inc (NYSE:ICD). MSD Capital had $12.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander'sMillennium Managementalso made a $0.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new ICD position is Matthew Hulsizer'sPEAK6 Capital Management.
Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Independence Contract Drilling Inc (NYSE:ICD). These stocks are Del Frisco's Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ:DFRG), Nemaura Medical Inc. (NASDAQ:NMRD), Leju Holdings Ltd (NYSE:LEJU), and RGC Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGCO). This group of stocks' market values are similar to ICD's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position DFRG,14,80979,1 NMRD,1,36,1 LEJU,2,1888,0 RGCO,1,416,0 Average,4.5,20830,0.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 4.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $21 million. That figure was $96 million in ICD's case. Del Frisco's Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ:DFRG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Nemaura Medical Inc. (NASDAQ:NMRD) is the least popular one with only 1 bullish hedge fund positions. Independence Contract Drilling Inc (NYSE:ICD) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately ICD wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on ICD were disappointed as the stock returned -37.9% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Do Directors Own Bang Overseas Limited (NSE:BANG) Shares?
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The big shareholder groups in Bang Overseas Limited (NSE:BANG) have power over the company. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, 'Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.'
Bang Overseas is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of ₹572m, which means it wouldn't have the attention of many institutional investors. In the chart below below, we can see that institutions don't own many shares in the company. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholder can tell us about BANG.
See our latest analysis for Bang Overseas
Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.
Institutions own less than 5% of Bang Overseas. That indicates that the company is on the radar of some funds, but it isn't particularly popular with professional investors at the moment. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. When multiple institutional investors want to buy shares, we often see a rising share price. The past revenue trajectory (shown below) can be an indication of future growth, but there are no guarantees.
Bang Overseas is not owned by hedge funds. Our information suggests that there isn't any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.
Our information suggests that insiders own more than half of Bang Overseas Limited. This gives them effective control of the company. That means they own ₹460m worth of shares in the ₹572m company. That's quite meaningful. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You canclick here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
The general public holds a 17% stake in BANG. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.
Many find it usefulto take an in depth look at how a company has performed in the past. You can accessthisdetailed graphof past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
Of coursethis may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at thisfreefreelist of interesting companies.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
FedEx profit beats estimates, warns of pain in 2020 from trade war
By Sanjana Shivdas and Melissa Fares (Reuters) - Package delivery company FedEx Corp beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit on Tuesday, but warned that U.S.-China trade tensions and the non-renewal of its contract with Amazon.com Inc would hurt its fiscal 2020 performance. Shares of the company recouped from initial losses and were last up 1.4% at $157.76 in extended trading. The United States and China have waged an 11-month trade war marked by tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of each others’ goods, roiling financial markets, disrupting supply chains and crimping global economic growth prospects. "Our fiscal 2020 performance is being negatively affected by continued weakness in global trade and industrial production, especially at FedEx Express," Chief Financial Officer Alan Graf said in a statement. FedEx forecast a mid-single-digit percentage point decline in adjusted earnings for fiscal 2020. "If we see these tariffs rise to say 25% as the Trump administration has talked about ... one of the biggest losers in the American economy would be FedEx," said Matthew White, a transportation and package delivery industry specialist. "Trade weakness is very hard to predict, as it can be caused by both policy and sentiment. Unfortunately, FedEx is seeing negative effects of both." The shipping giant, which gets about a third of its revenue from outside the United States, has drawn Chinese ire over shipping mistakes involving several packages. Most recently, a package containing a Huawei phone sent to the United States was returned last week to its sender in Britain, in what FedEx said was an "operational error." Telecoms company Huawei Technologies Co Ltd in May was added to a blacklist of people and companies the U.S. government said posed a security risk, barring it from buying, without special approval, U.S. technology upon which it was heavily reliant. FedEx on Monday sued the U.S. government, saying it should not be held liable if it inadvertently shipped products that violated the Trump administration ban. Story continues E-COMMERCE Earlier this month, FedEx decided not to renew its contract with Amazon, which represented less than 1.3% of its total revenue in the last calendar year, for U.S. cargo delivery through FedEx Express, the unit that delivers packages on planes. FedEx described the decision as a strategic move that would allow it to focus on the broader e-commerce market, a group that would include rivals of Amazon scaling up one- and two-day delivery. "The big emphasis going forward is going to be on e-commerce, which FedEx says will pressure yield," said Cathy Morrow Roberson, founder of consulting firm Logistics Trends & Insights. "They're right, especially for Express, and since they will be doing more residential deliveries, that will cost more as well." FedEx also said the cost of integrating Dutch delivery company TNT Express into the company was now expected to be about $1.7 billion through fiscal 2021. Fedex had said in March the cost would be more than $1.5 billion. It bought TNT Express in 2016 for $4.8 billion and has struggled to integrate it into its own network. Adjusted net income fell to $1.32 billion, or $5.01 per share, for the fourth-quarter ended May 31, from $1.60 billion, or $5.91 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $17.8 billion from $17.3 billion a year earlier, largely due to growth in U.S. volume and higher revenue per shipment at FedEx Freight and FedEx Ground. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $4.85 per share and revenue of $17.79 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. (Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru and Melissa Fares in New York; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Peter Cooney) |
What Kind Of Shareholder Owns Most Bang Overseas Limited (NSE:BANG) Stock?
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If you want to know who really controls Bang Overseas Limited (NSE:BANG), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said 'Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.'
Bang Overseas is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of ₹572m, which means it wouldn't have the attention of many institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutional investors have not yet purchased much of the company. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about BANG.
View our latest analysis for Bang Overseas
Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.
Since institutions own under 5% of Bang Overseas, many may not have spent much time considering the stock. But it's clear that some have; and they liked it enough to buy in. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. When multiple institutional investors want to buy shares, we often see a rising share price. The past revenue trajectory (shown below) can be an indication of future growth, but there are no guarantees.
Hedge funds don't have many shares in Bang Overseas. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.
The definition of company insiders can be subjective, and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.
Our information suggests that insiders own more than half of Bang Overseas Limited. This gives them effective control of the company. Given it has a market cap of ₹572m, that means they have ₹460m worth of shares. Most would be pleased to see the board is investing alongside them. You may wish todiscover(for free)if they have been buying or selling.
The general public holds a 17% stake in BANG. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Bang Overseas better, we need to consider many other factors.
Many find it usefulto take an in depth look at how a company has performed in the past. You can accessthisdetailed graphof past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
Of course,you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere.So take a peek at thisfreelist of interesting companies.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Hedge Funds Have Never Been This Bullish On Pfenex Inc (PFNX)
World-class money managers like Ken Griffin and Barry Rosenstein only invest their wealthy clients' money after undertaking a rigorous examination of any potential stock. They are particularly successful in this regard when it comes to small-cap stocks, which their peerless research gives them a big information advantage on when it comes to judging their worth. It's not surprising then that they generate their biggest returns from these stocks and invest more of their money in these stocks on average than other investors. It's also not surprising then that we pay close attention to these picks ourselves and have built a market-beating investment strategy around them.
Pfenex Inc (NYSE:PFNX)was in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. PFNX shareholders have witnessed an increase in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months. There were 10 hedge funds in our database with PFNX positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that pfnx isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter.
We're going to review the latest hedge fund action surrounding Pfenex Inc (NYSE:PFNX).
At Q1's end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 30% from the previous quarter. On the other hand, there were a total of 5 hedge funds with a bullish position in PFNX a year ago. With the smart money's sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were adding to their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
More specifically,Renaissance Technologieswas the largest shareholder of Pfenex Inc (NYSE:PFNX), with a stake worth $8 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Renaissance Technologies was Park West Asset Management, which amassed a stake valued at $6.5 million. Deerfield Management, Farallon Capital, and Sio Capital were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves.Point72 Asset Management, managed by Steve Cohen, initiated the most valuable position in Pfenex Inc (NYSE:PFNX). Point72 Asset Management had $0.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Kamran Moghtaderi'sEversept Partnersalso initiated a $0.5 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Andrew Weiss'sWeiss Asset Management.
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Pfenex Inc (NYSE:PFNX). We will take a look at Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (NYSE:OSG), LF Capital Acquistion Corp. (NASDAQ:LFAC), Adamas Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ADMS), and Nuvectra Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTR). This group of stocks' market valuations are similar to PFNX's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position OSG,10,43221,-5 LFAC,10,33730,0 ADMS,11,60975,-1 NVTR,12,25571,-4 Average,10.75,40874,-2.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 10.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $41 million. That figure was $29 million in PFNX's case. Nuvectra Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (NYSE:OSG) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Pfenex Inc (NYSE:PFNX) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on PFNX as the stock returned 12.1% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin. Hedge funds were clearly right about piling into this stock relative to other stocks with similar market capitalizations.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About South State Corporation (SSB)
Hedge funds and large money managers usually invest with a focus on the long-term horizon and, therefore, short-lived dips or bumps on the charts, usually don't make them change their opinion towards a company. This time it may be different. During the fourth quarter of 2018 we observed increased volatility and small-cap stocks underperformed the market. Things completely reversed during the first quarter. Hedge fund investor letters indicated that they are cutting their overall exposure, closing out some position and doubling down on others. Let’s take a look at the hedge fund sentiment towards South State Corporation (NASDAQ:SSB) to find out whether it was one of their high conviction long-term ideas.
IsSouth State Corporation (NASDAQ:SSB)ready to rally soon? Prominent investors are getting less optimistic. The number of long hedge fund bets went down by 1 lately. Our calculations also showed that SSB isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.SSBwas in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with SSB holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
If you'd ask most market participants, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, outdated investment tools of years past. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading today, Our experts choose to focus on the upper echelon of this group, approximately 750 funds. These money managers direct bulk of the hedge fund industry's total asset base, and by monitoring their unrivaled investments, Insider Monkey has spotted numerous investment strategies that have historically surpassed the broader indices. Insider Monkey's flagship hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by around 5 percentage points a year since its inception in May 2014 through June 18th. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 28.2% since February 2017 (through June 18th) even though the market was up nearly 30% during the same period. We just shared a list of 5 short targets in ourlatest quarterly updateand they are already down an average of 8.2% in a month whereas our long picks outperformed the market by 2.5 percentage points in this volatile 5 week period (our long picks also beat the market by 15 percentage points so far this year).
Let's go over the recent hedge fund action surrounding South State Corporation (NASDAQ:SSB).
At Q1's end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -7% from the fourth quarter of 2018. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards SSB over the last 15 quarters. With hedge funds' positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an "upper tier" of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were adding to their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey's hedge fund database,Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the most valuable position in South State Corporation (NASDAQ:SSB). Renaissance Technologies has a $8.6 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second isForest Hill Capital, managed by Mark Lee, which holds a $7.5 million position; 2.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism encompass Matthew Lindenbaum'sBasswood Capital, Joe Huber'sHuber Capital Managementand Bernard Horn'sPolaris Capital Management.
Since South State Corporation (NASDAQ:SSB) has witnessed a decline in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it's safe to say that there were a few money managers that elected to cut their full holdings heading into Q3. Interestingly, Amy Minella'sCardinal Capitaldropped the biggest stake of the 700 funds followed by Insider Monkey, comprising close to $24.9 million in stock, and Israel Englander's Millennium Management was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $3.1 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds heading into Q3.
Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to South State Corporation (NASDAQ:SSB). We will take a look at First Interstate Bancsystem Inc (NASDAQ:FIBK), Cadence Bancorporation (NYSE:CADE), Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE:VG), and ABM Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ABM). This group of stocks' market caps are closest to SSB's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position FIBK,11,93579,-2 CADE,22,145431,4 VG,34,259024,12 ABM,8,22434,-4 Average,18.75,130117,2.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 18.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $130 million. That figure was $26 million in SSB's case. Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE:VG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand ABM Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ABM) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. South State Corporation (NASDAQ:SSB) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. A small number of hedge funds were also right about betting on SSB as the stock returned 7.8% during the same time frame and outperformed the market by an even larger margin.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Is The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (HAIN) A Good Stock To Buy?
Is The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN) a good stock to buy right now? We at Insider Monkey like to examine what billionaires and hedge funds think of a company before doing days of research on it. Given their 2 and 20 payment structure, hedge funds have more incentives and resources than the average investor. The funds have access to expert networks and get tips from industry insiders. They also have numerous Ivy League graduates and MBAs. Like everyone else, hedge funds perform miserably at times, but their consensus picks have historically outperformed the market after risk adjustments.
IsThe Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN)the right investment to pursue these days? Money managers are becoming less confident. The number of bullish hedge fund bets shrunk by 8 lately. Our calculations also showed that HAIN isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
According to most investors, hedge funds are seen as unimportant, outdated financial tools of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, Our researchers look at the moguls of this club, approximately 750 funds. These investment experts manage the lion's share of the hedge fund industry's total asset base, and by tracking their unrivaled investments, Insider Monkey has deciphered numerous investment strategies that have historically outrun the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey's flagship hedge fund strategy defeated the S&P 500 index by around 5 percentage points a year since its inception in May 2014 through June 18th. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 28.2% since February 2017 (through June 18th) even though the market was up nearly 30% during the same period. We just shared a list of 5 short targets in ourlatest quarterly updateand they are already down an average of 8.2% in a month whereas our long picks outperformed the market by 2.5 percentage points in this volatile 5 week period (our long picks also beat the market by 15 percentage points so far this year).
Let's take a look at the latest hedge fund action encompassing The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN).
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -38% from the fourth quarter of 2018. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards HAIN over the last 15 quarters. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
More specifically,Engaged Capitalwas the largest shareholder of The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN), with a stake worth $389.8 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Engaged Capital was Permian Investment Partners, which amassed a stake valued at $48.6 million. Armistice Capital, GAMCO Investors, and Millennium Management were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Seeing as The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN) has faced a decline in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there were a few hedgies that elected to cut their entire stakes heading into Q3. It's worth mentioning that Joe Milano'sGreenhouse Fundsdropped the largest stake of the "upper crust" of funds watched by Insider Monkey, valued at about $17.2 million in stock, and Jim Simons's Renaissance Technologies was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $14.9 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 8 funds heading into Q3.
Let's now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN). We will take a look at Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN), Whiting Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:WLL), AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON), and Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE:ARGO). This group of stocks' market caps resemble HAIN's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position WERN,16,126925,2 WLL,25,360912,-8 AAON,5,3625,-1 ARGO,17,200431,4 Average,15.75,172973,-0.75 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 15.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $173 million. That figure was $492 million in HAIN's case. Whiting Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:WLL) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately HAIN wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was quite bearish); HAIN investors were disappointed as the stock returned -10.3% during the same time period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Is Meritage Homes Corp (MTH) A Good Stock To Buy?
At Insider Monkey we track the activity of some of the best-performing hedge funds like Appaloosa Management, Baupost, and Tiger Global because we determined that some of the stocks that they are collectively bullish on can help us generate returns above the broader indices. Out of thousands of stocks that hedge funds invest in, small-caps can provide the best returns over the long term due to the fact that these companies are less efficiently priced and are usually under the radars of mass-media, analysts and dumb money. This is why we follow the smart money moves in the small-cap space.
Meritage Homes Corp (NYSE:MTH)investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund sentiment in recent months. Our calculations also showed that MTH isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter.
We're going to take a look at the recent hedge fund action encompassing Meritage Homes Corp (NYSE:MTH).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 8% from the fourth quarter of 2018. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in MTH over the last 15 quarters. With the smart money's capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
More specifically,Fisher Asset Managementwas the largest shareholder of Meritage Homes Corp (NYSE:MTH), with a stake worth $59.9 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Fisher Asset Management was Echo Street Capital Management, which amassed a stake valued at $51.8 million. East Side Capital (RR Partners), D E Shaw, and GLG Partners were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
As industrywide interest jumped, some big names were breaking ground themselves.Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, initiated the largest position in Meritage Homes Corp (NYSE:MTH). Arrowstreet Capital had $5.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander'sMillennium Managementalso made a $0.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new MTH investors: Mike Vranos'sEllington, Michael Platt and William Reeves'sBlueCrest Capital Mgmt., and Ken Griffin'sCitadel Investment Group.
Let's now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Meritage Homes Corp (NYSE:MTH). These stocks are Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH), Delphi Technologies PLC (NYSE:DLPH), Core-Mark Holding Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:CORE), and Audentes Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:BOLD). This group of stocks' market values are closest to MTH's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position HTH,19,123299,5 DLPH,24,274206,6 CORE,24,76068,4 BOLD,26,597594,2 Average,23.25,267792,4.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 23.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $268 million. That figure was $177 million in MTH's case. Audentes Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:BOLD) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) is the least popular one with only 19 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Meritage Homes Corp (NYSE:MTH) is even less popular than HTH. Hedge funds clearly dropped the ball on MTH as the stock delivered strong returns, though hedge funds' consensus picks still generated respectable returns. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. A small number of hedge funds were also right about betting on MTH as the stock returned 14.8% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Tim Draper Is Bullish On Argentina’s Blockchain Tech Potential
In a talk at the Bitcoin2019 conference, Tim Draper revealed his perspective on the implications of his “joke” bet with Argentina’s current president which he made this yearduring a trip to South America.
He made the bet during a visit to Argentina, where he met with the Argentinian leader and talked about thebenefits of cryptocurrency, encouraging him to legalize bitcoin.
The conversation covered the devaluation of the Argentinian peso and quickly escalated to a wager: if Bitcoin gets to be more valuable than the peso by 2023, Argentina’s leader would declare it a national currency.
Related:Bitcoin’s Price Is Up 43% in 7 Days as Bull Frenzy Grips Market
Draper said that Bitcoin would reach $250,000 between 2022 and 2023, outpacing the entire currency market by far.
“Bitcoin will own a 5% of the global currency market. This will definitely happen,” Draper said.
While it is not clear if the President agreed to the bet, the venture capitalist assured journalists that the proposal was a joke.
“People are going to choose bitcoin over pesos when they see all they can do with bitcoin. That’s why I made the prediction and then the bet as a joke with the President,” Draper said.
Related:Bitcoin Price Hits 17-Month High Above $12.9K
Draper is bullish on Argentina but is worried about the President’s future.
“His popularity is going down,” Draper said during the panel.
The Argentinian peso is currently facing a projected 36% devaluation by the end of 2019. Macri’s government also faces a public debt rise of77 percent, the highest in Latin America. According to Draper, the solution lies in making Argentina open to investment.
“The only way to grow is to be the country all the entrepreneurs want to go to. This is one of those moments when a President can have an important impact on his country,” Draper said.
On the other hand, the investor does have great expectations for the Argentinianstartup industryand invested $3 million so far into Argentinian entrepreneurship.
According to Draper, a real investment in Argentina’s tech infrastructure is key. He told the South American leader that the implementation of 5G wireless in the country was imperative.
“I think it’s time to attract investors and venture capital to continue the progress, otherwise the status quo remains and it could lead to a collapse,” Draper said.
• Bitcoin’s Share of $350 Billion Crypto Market Highest Since 2017
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Hope Bancorp, Inc. (HOPE)
Before putting in our own effort and resources into finding a good investment, we can quickly utilize hedge fund expertise to give us a quick glimpse of whether that stock could make for a good addition to our portfolios. The odds are not exactly stacked in investors' favor when it comes to beating the market, as evidenced by the fact that less than 49% of the stocks in the S&P 500 did so during the second quarter. The stats were even worse in recent years when most of the advances in the market were due to large gains by FAANG stocks. However, one bright side for individual investors was the strong performance of hedge funds' top consensus picks. This year hedge funds' top 20 stock picks outperformed the S&P 500 Index by 6.6 percentage points through May 30th. Thus, we can see that the tireless research and efforts of hedge funds to identify winning stocks can work to our advantage when we know how to use the data. While not all of their picks will be winners, our odds are much better following their best stock picks than trying to go it alone.
Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE)has seen a decrease in support from the world's most elite money managers lately.HOPEwas in 14 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with HOPE holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that HOPE isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter.
Let's take a gander at the recent hedge fund action encompassing Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE).
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of -18% from one quarter earlier. By comparison, 14 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in HOPE a year ago. With hedgies' capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
The largest stake in Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) was held byPzena Investment Management, which reported holding $37.7 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by GAMCO Investors with a $7.7 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Renaissance Technologies, D E Shaw, and Citadel Investment Group.
Judging by the fact that Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) has faced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, it's easy to see that there is a sect of funds that slashed their positions entirely in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Paul Marshall and Ian Wace'sMarshall Wace LLPsold off the biggest investment of the "upper crust" of funds watched by Insider Monkey, comprising about $3.2 million in stock, and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell's Arrowstreet Capital was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $1.7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 3 funds in the third quarter.
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Nexa Resources S.A. (NYSE:NEXA), Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST), Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc (NASDAQ:KTOS), and Qudian Inc. (NYSE:QD). This group of stocks' market caps resemble HOPE's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position NEXA,11,18770,1 CWST,14,167959,-4 KTOS,17,112725,5 QD,18,52281,3 Average,15,87934,1.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 15 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $88 million. That figure was $71 million in HOPE's case. Qudian Inc. (NYSE:QD) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Nexa Resources S.A. (NYSE:NEXA) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately HOPE wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was quite bearish); HOPE investors were disappointed as the stock returned 2.9% during the same time period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Casella Waste Systems Inc. (CWST)
"Since 2006, value stocks (IVE vs IVW) have underperformed 11 of the 13 calendar years and when they beat growth, it wasn't by much. Cumulatively, through this week, it has been a 122% differential (up 52% for value vs up 174% for growth). This appears to be the longest and most severe drought for value investors since data collection began. It will go our way eventually as there are too many people paying far too much for today's darlings, both public and private. Further, the ten-year yield of 2.5% (pre-tax) isn't attractive nor is real estate. We believe the value part of the global equity market is the only place to earn solid risk adjusted returns and we believe those returns will be higher than normal," said Vilas Fund in itsQ1 investor letter. We aren't sure whether value stocks outperform growth, but we follow hedge fund investor letters to understand where the markets and stocks might be going. That's why we believe it would be worthwhile to take a look at the hedge fund sentiment on Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) in order to identify whether reputable and successful top money managers continue to believe in its potential.
IsCasella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)a marvelous investment now? Investors who are in the know are getting less bullish. The number of long hedge fund positions were trimmed by 4 in recent months. Our calculations also showed that CWST isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit there are plenty of formulas shareholders can use to size up their holdings. Some of the less utilized formulas are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can outclass the market by a very impressive margin (see the details here).
Let's take a peek at the key hedge fund action regarding Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST).
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -22% from the fourth quarter of 2018. On the other hand, there were a total of 17 hedge funds with a bullish position in CWST a year ago. So, let's review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
More specifically,Renaissance Technologieswas the largest shareholder of Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST), with a stake worth $111.9 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Renaissance Technologies was Two Sigma Advisors, which amassed a stake valued at $11.5 million. Portolan Capital Management, Skylands Capital, and Driehaus Capital were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Due to the fact that Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) has experienced falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there were a few fund managers that slashed their entire stakes in the third quarter. It's worth mentioning that Brandon Osten'sVenator Capital Managementcut the biggest investment of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, comprising close to $2.6 million in stock. Paul Marshall and Ian Wace's fund,Marshall Wace LLP, also dumped its stock, about $2 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds in the third quarter.
Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc (NASDAQ:KTOS), Qudian Inc. (NYSE:QD), Cardtronics plc (NASDAQ:CATM), and AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV). This group of stocks' market values are similar to CWST's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position KTOS,17,112725,5 QD,18,52281,3 CATM,18,402332,0 AVAV,13,40715,4 Average,16.5,152013,3 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 16.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $152 million. That figure was $168 million in CWST's case. Qudian Inc. (NYSE:QD) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. A small number of hedge funds were also right about betting on CWST as the stock returned 15% during the same time frame and outperformed the market by an even larger margin.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About DiamondRock Hospitality Company (DRH)
"Since 2006, value stocks (IVE vs IVW) have underperformed 11 of the 13 calendar years and when they beat growth, it wasn't by much. Cumulatively, through this week, it has been a 122% differential (up 52% for value vs up 174% for growth). This appears to be the longest and most severe drought for value investors since data collection began. It will go our way eventually as there are too many people paying far too much for today's darlings, both public and private. Further, the ten-year yield of 2.5% (pre-tax) isn't attractive nor is real estate. We believe the value part of the global equity market is the only place to earn solid risk adjusted returns and we believe those returns will be higher than normal," said Vilas Fund in itsQ1 investor letter. We aren't sure whether value stocks outperform growth, but we follow hedge fund investor letters to understand where the markets and stocks might be going. This article will lay out and discuss the hedge fund and institutional investor sentiment towards DiamondRock Hospitality Company (NYSE:DRH).
DiamondRock Hospitality Company (NYSE:DRH)shareholders have witnessed a decrease in support from the world's most elite money managers lately. Our calculations also showed that DRH isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit there are plenty of tools investors use to value stocks. Some of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading interest. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a solid amount (see the details here).
Let's go over the fresh hedge fund action surrounding DiamondRock Hospitality Company (NYSE:DRH).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -32% from the previous quarter. By comparison, 15 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in DRH a year ago. With the smart money's positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey's hedge fund database, Parag Vora'sHG Vora Capital Managementhas the biggest position in DiamondRock Hospitality Company (NYSE:DRH), worth close to $83.9 million, corresponding to 6.2% of its total 13F portfolio. On HG Vora Capital Management's heels isLong Pond Capital, managed by John Khoury, which holds a $31 million position; 1.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other members of the smart money that are bullish encompass Dmitry Balyasny'sBalyasny Asset Management, Israel Englander'sMillennium Managementand Richard S. Pzena'sPzena Investment Management.
Judging by the fact that DiamondRock Hospitality Company (NYSE:DRH) has experienced falling interest from hedge fund managers, it's safe to say that there exists a select few money managers that elected to cut their full holdings by the end of the third quarter. It's worth mentioning that D. E. Shaw'sD E Shawsold off the largest stake of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, worth about $4.2 million in stock, and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace's Marshall Wace LLP was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $1.9 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 6 funds by the end of the third quarter.
Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as DiamondRock Hospitality Company (NYSE:DRH) but similarly valued. These stocks are Zuora, Inc. (NYSE:ZUO), Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS), American Assets Trust, Inc (NYSE:AAT), and WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC). All of these stocks' market caps are similar to DRH's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position ZUO,21,116298,7 CRS,13,82466,-2 AAT,14,114971,0 WSBC,8,48499,3 Average,14,90559,2 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 14 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $91 million. That figure was $207 million in DRH's case. Zuora, Inc. (NYSE:ZUO) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. DiamondRock Hospitality Company (NYSE:DRH) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately DRH wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was quite bearish); DRH investors were disappointed as the stock returned -4% during the same time period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Tricida, Inc. (TCDA)
Many investors, including Paul Tudor Jones or Stan Druckenmiller, have been saying before the Q4 market crash that the stock market is overvalued due to a low interest rate environment that leads to companies swapping their equity for debt and focusing mostly on short-term performance such as beating the quarterly earnings estimates. In the first quarter, most investors recovered all of their Q4 losses as sentiment shifted and optimism dominated the US China trade negotiations. Nevertheless, many of the stocks that delivered strong returns in the first quarter still sport strong fundamentals and their gains were more related to the general market sentiment rather than their individual performance and hedge funds kept their bullish stance. In this article we will find out how hedge fund sentiment to Tricida, Inc. (NASDAQ: TCDA ) changed recently. Tricida, Inc. (NASDAQ: TCDA ) has seen an increase in hedge fund interest recently. Our calculations also showed that TCDA isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds . In the 21st century investor’s toolkit there are dozens of signals stock market investors use to evaluate stocks. A pair of the most underrated signals are hedge fund and insider trading signals. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can beat their index-focused peers by a superb amount ( see the details here ). Felix Baker - Baker Bros. We're going to take a look at the new hedge fund action regarding Tricida, Inc. (NASDAQ: TCDA ). What have hedge funds been doing with Tricida, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCDA)? Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 8% from one quarter earlier. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards TCDA over the last 15 quarters. With the smart money's capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions). Story continues TCDA_jun2019 The largest stake in Tricida, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCDA) was held by OrbiMed Advisors , which reported holding $420.5 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by Baker Bros. Advisors with a $69.6 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included venBio Select Advisor, Cormorant Asset Management, and Vivo Capital. As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers were leading the bulls' herd. Alkeon Capital Management , managed by Panayotis Takis Sparaggis, assembled the most outsized position in Tricida, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCDA). Alkeon Capital Management had $6.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Marshall and Ian Wace's Marshall Wace LLP also initiated a $2.5 million position during the quarter. Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Tricida, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCDA) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: KRO ), IAMGOLD Corporation (NYSE: IAG ), Arco Platform Limited (NASDAQ: ARCE ), and Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE: BMI ). This group of stocks' market caps are closest to TCDA's market cap. [table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position KRO,13,44485,-1 IAG,13,148633,-1 ARCE,11,40688,1 BMI,14,117027,2 Average,12.75,87708,0.25 [/table] View table here if you experience formatting issues. As you can see these stocks had an average of 12.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $88 million. That figure was $683 million in TCDA's case. Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE: BMI ) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Arco Platform Limited (NASDAQ: ARCE ) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Tricida, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCDA) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed that top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately TCDA wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on TCDA were disappointed as the stock returned -2.7% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2. Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey . Related Content How to Best Use Insider Monkey To Increase Your Returns Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Top Dividend Stock Picks 30 Stocks Billionaires Are Crazy About: Insider Monkey Billionaire Stock Index |
Is Carpenter Technology Corporation (CRS) A Good Stock To Buy?
Hedge fund managers like David Einhorn, Bill Ackman, or Carl Icahn became billionaires through reaping large profits for their investors, which is why piggybacking their stock picks may provide us with significant returns as well. Many hedge funds, like Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, are pretty secretive, but we can still get some insights by analyzing their quarterly 13F filings. One of the most fertile grounds for large abnormal returns is hedge funds’ most popular small-cap picks, which are not so widely followed and often trade at a discount to their intrinsic value. In this article we will check out hedge fund activity in another small-cap stock: Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS).
Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS)has seen a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money recently.CRSwas in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. There were 15 hedge funds in our database with CRS positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that CRS isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
To most stock holders, hedge funds are viewed as unimportant, old financial vehicles of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds with their doors open today, We hone in on the upper echelon of this club, around 750 funds. These hedge fund managers control most of all hedge funds' total capital, and by tailing their unrivaled equity investments, Insider Monkey has figured out many investment strategies that have historically outperformed Mr. Market. Insider Monkey's flagship hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by around 5 percentage points a year since its inception in May 2014 through June 18th. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 28.2% since February 2017 (through June 18th) even though the market was up nearly 30% during the same period. We just shared a list of 5 short targets in ourlatest quarterly updateand they are already down an average of 8.2% in a month whereas our long picks outperformed the market by 2.5 percentage points in this volatile 5 week period (our long picks also beat the market by 15 percentage points so far this year).
Let's go over the recent hedge fund action regarding Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS).
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of -13% from the previous quarter. On the other hand, there were a total of 12 hedge funds with a bullish position in CRS a year ago. So, let's examine which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
More specifically,Royce & Associateswas the largest shareholder of Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS), with a stake worth $25.4 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Royce & Associates was Fisher Asset Management, which amassed a stake valued at $15.3 million. Huber Capital Management, Winton Capital Management, and AQR Capital Management were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Seeing as Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS) has witnessed bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, it's safe to say that there exists a select few funds who were dropping their entire stakes last quarter. It's worth mentioning that Jim Simons'sRenaissance Technologiesdumped the largest investment of the 700 funds tracked by Insider Monkey, worth about $5.2 million in stock, and Steve Cohen's Point72 Asset Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $2.2 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds last quarter.
Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS) but similarly valued. These stocks are American Assets Trust, Inc (NYSE:AAT), WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC), Cal-Maine Foods Inc (NASDAQ:CALM), and SeaWorld Entertainment Inc (NYSE:SEAS). This group of stocks' market valuations are closest to CRS's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position AAT,14,114971,0 WSBC,8,48499,3 CALM,16,170156,-2 SEAS,27,774791,-2 Average,16.25,277104,-0.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 16.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $277 million. That figure was $82 million in CRS's case. SeaWorld Entertainment Inc (NYSE:SEAS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately CRS wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was quite bearish); CRS investors were disappointed as the stock returned 0.7% during the same time period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About The St. Joe Company (JOE)
While the market driven by short-term sentiment influenced by the accomodative interest rate environment in the US, increasing oil prices and optimism towards the resolution of the trade war with China, many smart money investors kept their cautious approach regarding the current bull run in the first quarter and hedging or reducing many of their long positions. However, as we know, big investors usually buy stocks with strong fundamentals, which is why we believe we can profit from imitating them. In this article, we are going to take a look at the smart money sentiment surrounding The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE).
IsThe St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE)the right investment to pursue these days? Money managers are betting on the stock. The number of bullish hedge fund positions rose by 1 recently. Our calculations also showed that JOE isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the financial world there are a large number of tools investors have at their disposal to grade stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid amount. Insider Monkey's flagship best performing hedge funds strategy returned 25.8% year to date (through May 30th) and outperformed the market even though it draws its stock picks among small-cap stocks. This strategy also outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since its inception (see the details here). That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is a useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let's take a peek at the latest hedge fund action encompassing The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 8% from the fourth quarter of 2018. By comparison, 13 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in JOE a year ago. So, let's find out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds,Fairholme (FAIRX)held the most valuable stake in The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE), which was worth $437.5 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was GAMCO Investors which amassed $24.8 million worth of shares. Moreover, Royce & Associates, Renaissance Technologies, and GMT Capital were also bullish on The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers have jumped into The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) headfirst.GMT Capital, managed by Thomas E. Claugus, created the most outsized position in The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE). GMT Capital had $3.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Muller'sPDT Partnersalso initiated a $0.4 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new JOE position is Noam Gottesman'sGLG Partners.
Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) but similarly valued. These stocks are TPI Composites, Inc. (NASDAQ:TPIC), Celestica Inc. (NYSE:CLS), BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI), and Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND). This group of stocks' market caps are similar to JOE's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position TPIC,19,137247,6 CLS,15,81881,1 BJRI,19,150999,-2 SAND,12,44973,3 Average,16.25,103775,2 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 16.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $104 million. That figure was $485 million in JOE's case. TPI Composites, Inc. (NASDAQ:TPIC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately JOE wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was quite bearish); JOE investors were disappointed as the stock returned -4.6% during the same time period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Is H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (HEES) A Good Stock To Buy?
Hedge funds are known to underperform the bull markets but that's not because they are terrible at stock picking. Hedge funds underperform because their net exposure in only 40-70% and they charge exorbitant fees. No one knows what the future holds and how market participants will react to the bountiful news that floods in each day. However, hedge funds' consensus picks on average deliver market beating returns. For example in the first 5 months of this year through May 30th the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index returned approximately 12.1% (including dividend payments). Conversely, hedge funds’ top 20 large-cap stock picks generated a return of 18.7% during the same 5-month period, with the majority of these stock picks outperforming the broader market benchmark. Interestingly, an average long/short hedge fund returned only a fraction of this value due to the hedges they implemented and the large fees they charged. If you pay attention to the actual hedge fund returns versus the returns of their long stock picks, you might believe that it is a waste of time to analyze hedge funds' purchases. We know better. That's why we scrutinize hedge fund sentiment before we invest in a stock like H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES).
IsH&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES)the right investment to pursue these days? The best stock pickers are reducing their bets on the stock. The number of bullish hedge fund bets dropped by 2 lately. Our calculations also showed that HEES isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
[caption id="attachment_746893" align="aligncenter" width="473"]
Paul Marshall of Marshall Wace[/caption]
Let's review the new hedge fund action encompassing H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES).
At Q1's end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -13% from the fourth quarter of 2018. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards HEES over the last 15 quarters. So, let's see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds,Buckingham Capital Managementheld the most valuable stake in H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES), which was worth $9.7 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was Marshall Wace LLP which amassed $8.8 million worth of shares. Moreover, SG Capital Management, Two Sigma Advisors, and PEAK6 Capital Management were also bullish on H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
Because H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there is a sect of hedge funds who were dropping their full holdings by the end of the third quarter. It's worth mentioning that Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson'sAdage Capital Managementcut the largest stake of the 700 funds watched by Insider Monkey, valued at an estimated $0.8 million in stock. Mike Vranos's fund,Ellington, also sold off its stock, about $0.5 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds by the end of the third quarter.
Let's now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) but similarly valued. These stocks are BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX), Y-mAbs Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:YMAB), Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT), and TCG BDC, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD). This group of stocks' market caps are closest to HEES's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position BCRX,19,358451,1 YMAB,4,53052,-2 CLDT,7,50262,-3 CGBD,12,24463,2 Average,10.5,121557,-0.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 10.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $122 million. That figure was $33 million in HEES's case. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Y-mAbs Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:YMAB) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on HEES as the stock returned 12.7% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Does Banaras Beads Limited's (NSE:BANARBEADS) Past Performance Indicate A Weaker Future?
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When Banaras Beads Limited (NSE:BANARBEADS) announced its most recent earnings (31 March 2019), I did two things: looked at its past earnings track record, then look at what is happening in the industry. Understanding how Banaras Beads performed requires a benchmark rather than trying to assess a standalone number at one point in time. Below is a quick commentary on how I see BANARBEADS has performed.
View our latest analysis for Banaras Beads
BANARBEADS's trailing twelve-month earnings (from 31 March 2019) of ₹12m has declined by -16% compared to the previous year.
Furthermore, this one-year growth rate has been lower than its average earnings growth rate over the past 5 years of -16%, indicating the rate at which BANARBEADS is growing has slowed down. Why could this be happening? Let's examine what's transpiring with margins and whether the rest of the industry is experiencing the hit as well.
In terms of returns from investment, Banaras Beads has fallen short of achieving a 20% return on equity (ROE), recording 2.5% instead. Furthermore, its return on assets (ROA) of 3.0% is below the IN Luxury industry of 6.3%, indicating Banaras Beads's are utilized less efficiently. However, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for Banaras Beads’s debt level, has increased over the past 3 years from 1.8% to 2.3%.
Banaras Beads's track record can be a valuable insight into its earnings performance, but it certainly doesn't tell the whole story. Generally companies that endure a drawn out period of reduction in earnings are undergoing some sort of reinvestment phase in order to keep up with the latest industry growth and disruption. I recommend you continue to research Banaras Beads to get a better picture of the stock by looking at:
1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for BANARBEADS’s future growth? Take a look at ourfree research report of analyst consensusfor BANARBEADS’s outlook.
2. Financial Health: Are BANARBEADS’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out ourfinancial health checks here.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore ourfree list of these great stocks here.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 31 March 2019. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Hedge Funds Have Never Been More Bullish On RadNet Inc. (RDNT)
Although the masses and most of the financial media blame hedge funds for their exorbitant fee structure and disappointing performance, these investors have proved to have great stock picking abilities over the years (that's why their assets under management continue to swell). We believe hedge fund sentiment should serve as a crucial tool of an individual investor’s stock selection process, as it may offer great insights of how the brightest minds of the finance industry feel about specific stocks. After all, these people have access to smartest analysts and expensive data/information sources that individual investors can't match. So should one consider investing in RadNet Inc. (NASDAQ:RDNT)? The smart money sentiment can provide an answer to this question.
RadNet Inc. (NASDAQ:RDNT)shares haven't seen a lot of action during the first quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged. The stock was in 14 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. At the end of this article we will also compare RDNT to other stocks including Sunlands Online Education Group (NYSE:STG), Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC), and Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let's take a glance at the recent hedge fund action regarding RadNet Inc. (NASDAQ:RDNT).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. By comparison, 14 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in RDNT a year ago. So, let's review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey,Moab Capital Partners, managed by Michael M. Rothenberg, holds the biggest position in RadNet Inc. (NASDAQ:RDNT). Moab Capital Partners has a $28.2 million position in the stock, comprising 6.7% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second isRenaissance Technologies, led by Jim Simons, holding a $22.9 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other members of the smart money with similar optimism encompass Wilmot B. Harkey and Daniel Mack'sNantahala Capital Management, Cliff Asness'sAQR Capital Managementand Jonathan Lourie and Stuart Fiertz'sCheyne Capital.
Due to the fact that RadNet Inc. (NASDAQ:RDNT) has faced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there lies a certain "tier" of fund managers who were dropping their full holdings in the third quarter. It's worth mentioning that Israel Englander'sMillennium Managementsaid goodbye to the biggest stake of the 700 funds followed by Insider Monkey, comprising an estimated $0.8 million in stock. David Harding's fund,Winton Capital Management, also dumped its stock, about $0.4 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as RadNet Inc. (NASDAQ:RDNT) but similarly valued. These stocks are Sunlands Technology Group (NYSE:STG), Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC), Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:MBIN), and Evolus, Inc. (NASDAQ:EOLS). This group of stocks' market values resemble RDNT's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position STG,2,1120,0 FFIC,8,42537,1 MBIN,3,1199,-1 EOLS,6,3963,3 Average,4.75,12205,0.75 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 4.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $12 million. That figure was $84 million in RDNT's case. Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Sunlands Technology Group (NYSE:STG) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks RadNet Inc. (NASDAQ:RDNT) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on RDNT, though not to the same extent, as the stock returned 5.1% during the same period and outperformed the market as well.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Trish Regan: Iran should follow Mexico’s example
President Trumpis putting Iran on notice and he's warning the rogue regime to think twice before making its next move.
The president tweeting his response: “Iran’s very ignorant and insulting statement, put out today, only shows that they do not understand reality. Any attack by Iran on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force. In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration. No more John Kerry & Obama!”
In other words, they need to stop operating in the past and recognize the hand they’ve been dealt.
Iran’s leadership needs to get over itself, for the sake of the people, the world and quite frankly, the leaders themselves. Chanting "Death to America!" is not helping.
Instead, Iran needs to take a page from Mexico’s book. It can learn from Mexico. Remember how the president threatened tariffs as high as 25 percent on Mexican goods? Well, what did Mexico do? It hightailed it to Washington to sit down and negotiate with the administration.
Now, Mexico is putting 15,000 troops on its border with the U.S. to help patrol the U.S.-Mexican border while also sending troops to its border with Guatemala. Nicely played, Mexico.
And so far? No tariffs. The same opportunity exists for Iran. The president says that he’s ready to sit down and negotiate with Iran -- something he’s been saying for quite some time.
So, Iran, pick up the darn phone! The Iranians can’t seem to get beyond the tearing up of Obama’s deal.
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Stop feeling bad for yourselves. Wake up and deal in reality. You may not like it, but the U.S. holds the cards. So show up, play nice, and act like a responsible world actor -- and I’m pretty sure your economic troubles will be eased.
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Mueller to Testify on Russia Probe Before Congress
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has agreed to testify before Congress on July 17 on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, the House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence Committee announced Tuesday night. In a joint statement, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said that Mueller had agreed to testify in an open session. “Americans have demanded to hear directly from the Special Counsel so they can understand what he and his team examined, uncovered, and determined about Russia’s attack on our democracy, the Trump campaign’s acceptance and use of that help, and President Trump and his associates' obstruction of the investigation into that attack,” they said. The committees issued subpoenas Tuesday to compel Mueller’s testimony, according to the joint statement. The decision to compel Mueller to testify is a landmark move that will put an end to a months-long saga on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have for weeks fought to get access to information about whether President Trump obstructed justice. Part of the congressional efforts, which took place over the last several months, have consisted of suing for documents related to the president and subpoenaing former Trump officials to testify about their time working with the president. But the White House has put forward a strategy of stonewalling Congress at every move, exerting executive privilege and preventing former officials and staffers from testifying. Trump’s Lawyers on House Judiciary Dems’ Document Request: You Get Nothing Mueller’s appearance will mark the first time that anyone from the special counsel’s office has appeared before Congress to testify about the Russia investigation. Throughout the past two years the office has remained steadfast in its silence—only once commenting on a news report. And Congress will be able to question the man at the helm of that investigation about why he and his team said in their report that they could not absolve the president. Story continues Members of both committees are likely to pepper Mueller with questions about what evidence they collected in considering whether President Trump obstructed justice. Lawmakers may also ask why the special counsel’s office decided to allow the president to prepare written answers to interview questions and how Mueller worked with Attorney General Bill Barr in preparing the release of the report. But the former special counsel is not likely to answer questions from Congress about anything outside of the scope of what is written in the report. Still, Democrats view Mueller’s mere presence in front of Congress, on national television, as a win. Democratic aides have told The Daily Beast over the last several months that if all else failed, they would at least be able to get Mueller to testify publicly about the report. “That’s all we need,” one aide said earlier this month, adding that the Democrats could win simply by having the former special counsel answer questions in a public setting about the report. “Most Americans haven’t read the Mueller report,” another aide said. But the negotiations to get Mueller into Congress proved to be more difficult than some lawmakers anticipated. On Tuesday, the committees wrote Mueller a letter, saying they had “consistently communicated” their intention to issue subpoenas, if necessary. “We now understand it is necessary to do so,” the letter said, at the same time acknowledging the former special counsel’s preference of not testifying in front of Congress. “Nevertheless, the American public deserves to hear directly from you about your investigation and conclusions,” the letter said. The committee has been working with the Department of Justice on negotiating terms for Mueller’s appearance over the last several weeks. The negotiations have been prolonged in part because of Mueller’s announcement that he would leave the Department of Justice and retire to private life. In his press conference last month in which he announced his resignation , Mueller said he did not wish to appear in front of Congress. “I hope and expect this to be the only time that I will speak to you in this manner. I am making that decision myself. No one has told me whether I can or should testify or speak further about this matter,” Mueller said in a prepared statement at the time. “There has been discussion about an appearance before Congress. Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report. It contains our findings and analysis and the reasons for the decisions we made. We chose those words carefully and the work speaks for itself. And the report is my testimony.” But Mueller’s press conference left lawmakers on Capitol Hill wanting more. In his statement, Mueller also said: “If we had had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.” That remark set off a firestorm of requests from Democrats on the Hill demanding that the House move to impeachment proceedings, saying Mueller’s non-exoneration of Trump was what they needed to move forward. (Mueller and his team had also written in the report that they could not clear the president of wrongdoing.) Negotiations about Mueller’s potential appearance initially were conducted between the Judiciary Committee and representatives of DOJ. Several weeks into that process, the committee began working with Mueller directly. The negotiations included extensive conversations about how Mueller would testify, including the possibility of him appearing behind closed doors. Read more at The Daily Beast. 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Banaras Beads Limited's (NSE:BANARBEADS) Earnings Dropped -16%, How Did It Fare Against The Industry?
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For long-term investors, assessing earnings trend over time and against industry benchmarks is more beneficial than examining a single earnings announcement at a point in time. Investors may find my commentary, albeit very high-level and brief, on Banaras Beads Limited (NSE:BANARBEADS) useful as an attempt to give more color around how Banaras Beads is currently performing.
View our latest analysis for Banaras Beads
BANARBEADS's trailing twelve-month earnings (from 31 March 2019) of ₹12m has declined by -16% compared to the previous year.
Furthermore, this one-year growth rate has been lower than its average earnings growth rate over the past 5 years of -16%, indicating the rate at which BANARBEADS is growing has slowed down. Why is this? Well, let’s take a look at what’s occurring with margins and if the entire industry is feeling the heat.
In terms of returns from investment, Banaras Beads has fallen short of achieving a 20% return on equity (ROE), recording 2.5% instead. Furthermore, its return on assets (ROA) of 3.0% is below the IN Luxury industry of 6.3%, indicating Banaras Beads's are utilized less efficiently. However, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for Banaras Beads’s debt level, has increased over the past 3 years from 1.8% to 2.3%.
While past data is useful, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Usually companies that experience a drawn out period of diminishing earnings are undergoing some sort of reinvestment phase in order to keep up with the latest industry disruption and expansion. You should continue to research Banaras Beads to get a better picture of the stock by looking at:
1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for BANARBEADS’s future growth? Take a look at ourfree research report of analyst consensusfor BANARBEADS’s outlook.
2. Financial Health: Are BANARBEADS’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out ourfinancial health checks here.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore ourfree list of these great stocks here.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 31 March 2019. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Oil Prices Gain as U.S. Crude Stockpiles Continue to Shrink
Investing.com - Oil prices jumped higher on Wednesday in Asia after data showing a larger than expected decline in U.S. stockpiles underpinned a market already supported by concerns over heightened Middle East tensions.
U.S. WTI crude futures were up 2% at $58.96. International benchmark Brent crude gained 1.4% to $65.2.
Prices were boosted after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a larger-than-forecast fall in U.S. crude inventories last week.
U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 7.5 million barrels to 474.5 million, surpassing expectations for a decline of 2.5 million barrels, according to the API data. Crude stocks at U.S. delivery hub Cushing, Oklahoma, fell by 1.3 million barrels.
"Oil prices went ballistic after the API report," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at Vanguard Markets, in a Reuters report. "Oil prices have been squeezing higher on escalating tensions in the Middle East. But with late-day draws showing up in the API report, this is a strong signal for the energy market," Innes said.
Traders expect weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, due later in the day, will show a 2.5-million-barrel drop in crude stockpiles, almost matching the last decline of 3.1 million barrels.
Meanwhile, energy traders remained on the watch out for any indications that tensions between the United States and Iran could escalate into military conflict.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman at the G-20 summit this weekend.
It is expected the two will discuss whether and how to extend the current production cut agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers.
OPEC and its allies will discuss the output policy for the rest of the year at a meeting next week.
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Those Who Purchased Banswara Syntex (NSE:BANSWRAS) Shares Three Years Ago Have A 55% Loss To Show For It
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If you are building a properly diversified stock portfolio, the chances are some of your picks will perform badly. But the last three years have been particularly tough on longer termBanswara Syntex Limited(NSE:BANSWRAS) shareholders. Sadly for them, the share price is down 55% in that time. And the ride hasn't got any smoother in recent times over the last year, with the price 26% lower in that time. On top of that, the share price has dropped a further 9.9% in a month. Importantly, this could be a market reaction to the recently released financial results. You can check out the latest numbers inour company report.
View our latest analysis for Banswara Syntex
To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.
Banswara Syntex saw its EPS decline at a compound rate of 4.1% per year, over the last three years. This reduction in EPS is slower than the 23% annual reduction in the share price. So it's likely that the EPS decline has disappointed the market, leaving investors hesitant to buy. The less favorable sentiment is reflected in its current P/E ratio of 4.71.
You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
Dive deeper into Banswara Syntex's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Banswara Syntex'searnings, revenue and cash flow.
We've already covered Banswara Syntex's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR attempts to capture the value of dividends (as if they were reinvested) as well as any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings offered to shareholders. Dividends have been really beneficial for Banswara Syntex shareholders, and that cash payout explains why its total shareholder loss of 53%, over the last 3 years, isn't as bad as the share price return.
While the broader market gained around 0.8% in the last year, Banswara Syntex shareholders lost 25% (even including dividends). Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 2.1% over the last half decade. We realise that Buffett has said investors should 'buy when there is blood on the streets', but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality businesses. You could get a better understanding of Banswara Syntex's growth by checking outthis more detailed historical graphof earnings, revenue and cash flow.
We will like Banswara Syntex better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out thisfreelist of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on IN exchanges.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Treasury watchdog to review delay of Harriet Tubman $20 bill design
A mock-up of a Harriet Tubman twenty dollar bill provided by Women on 20s, a non-profit, grassroots organization working to put a woman's face on the Unites States $20 banknote. The U.S. Treasury's Office of the Inspector General will review the delay of a new $20 bill design featuring abolitionist hero Harriet Tubman, acting Inspector General Rich Delmar said in a letter released Monday. "As part of this work, we will interview the stakeholders involved in the new note design process," Delmar wrote to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. The Tubman redesign was initially scheduled for 2020 and coincided with the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment which gave women the right to vote. But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said last month that the redesign would be delayed so the $10 bill and the $50 bill could be redesigned first to make it harder for the bills to be counterfeited. He said those bills will be introduced before a redesigned $20 bill. A Treasury Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement that process of issuing a new bill is not political. The security of the currency and combating counterfeiting are the only concerns considered in the redesign schedule, the statement says. Last Month: Mnuchin: $20 bill redesign with Tubman on hold Announcement: Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on $20 bill The Office of the Inspector General said their audit will be looking into security measures at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The effort is expected to take 10 months, according to the letter. On June 19 , Schumer asked the office to investigate whether the delay was driven by political reasons. Schumer said in a news release that he is pleased the Treasury Department is looking into the issue. There are no women, there are no people of color on our paper currency today, even though they make up a significant majority of our population, and the previous administrations plan to put New Yorker Harriet Tubman, on the $20 note was a long overdue way to recognize that disparity, and rectify it, he said. Follow Elinor Aspegren on Twitter: @elinoraspegren. Contributing: The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Treasury watchdog to review delay of Harriet Tubman $20 bill design View comments |
With A -20% Earnings Drop, Did Bharat Dynamics Limited (NSE:BDL) Really Underperform?
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For investors, increase in profitability and industry-beating performance can be essential considerations in an investment. Below, I will examine Bharat Dynamics Limited's (NSE:BDL) track record on a high level, to give you some insight into how the company has been performing against its long term trend and its industry peers.
Check out our latest analysis for Bharat Dynamics
BDL's trailing twelve-month earnings (from 31 March 2019) of ₹4.2b has declined by -20% compared to the previous year.
Furthermore, this one-year growth rate has been lower than its average earnings growth rate over the past 5 years of 5.0%, indicating the rate at which BDL is growing has slowed down. Why is this? Well, let’s take a look at what’s transpiring with margins and whether the whole industry is facing the same headwind.
In terms of returns from investment, Bharat Dynamics has fallen short of achieving a 20% return on equity (ROE), recording 19% instead. However, its return on assets (ROA) of 7.8% exceeds the IN Aerospace & Defense industry of 7.2%, indicating Bharat Dynamics has used its assets more efficiently. And finally, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for Bharat Dynamics’s debt level, has increased over the past 3 years from 15% to 21%.
While past data is useful, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Generally companies that face a drawn out period of decline in earnings are going through some sort of reinvestment phase with the aim of keeping up with the latest industry disruption and growth. I recommend you continue to research Bharat Dynamics to get a better picture of the stock by looking at:
1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for BDL’s future growth? Take a look at ourfree research report of analyst consensusfor BDL’s outlook.
2. Financial Health: Are BDL’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out ourfinancial health checks here.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore ourfree list of these great stocks here.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 31 March 2019. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
China suspends Canadian meat imports amid Huawei dispute
TORONTO (AP) China is suspending all meat imports from Canada amid their dispute over the Canadian detention of a top executive at the Chinese tech company Huawei. The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said in a statement on its website Tuesday that the move follows Chinese customs inspectors' detection of residue from a restricted feed additive, called ractopamine, in a batch of Canadian pork products. It is permitted in Canada but banned in China. "China has taken urgent preventive measures and requested the Canadian government to suspend the issuance of certificates for meat exported to China," the statement said. Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei CFO and daughter of the company's founder, was arrested Dec. 1 in Canada at the request of U.S. authorities, who want to try her on fraud charges. China then detained two Canadians and sentenced another to death in an apparent attempt to pressure for her release. The latest action against Canada comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau heads to Japan for the G-20 summit. U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart amid trade talks. Meng's arrest set off a diplomatic furor among the three countries, complicating high-stakes U.S.-China trade talks and severely damaging Beijing's relations with Ottawa. Canada wants Trump to speak on behalf of Canada to Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Chinese have refused to talk to senior Canadian government officials, including Trudeau and Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland. Trudeau had hoped to meet with Xi at the G-20 but that appears unlikely. Before acting against Canadian meat, China previously stopped importing certain Canadian products like canola. Justine Lesage, a spokeswoman for Canada's agriculture minister, said in a statement that the Canadian Food and Inspection Agency identified an issue involving inauthentic export certificates that could affect the export of pork and beef products to China. Story continues She said the agency has "taken measures to address this issue and is continuing to work closely with industry partners and Chinese officials." "The Canadian food system is one of the best in the world and we are confident in the safety of Canadian products and Canadian exports," she said. Last year, Canada's shipment of just pork to China was worth about 500 million Canadian dollars, or about $380 million. Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said Beijing is clearly putting additional pressure on Canada. "It is quite disturbing," said Saint-Jacques, who estimated Canada's meat exports to China this year would exceed 1 billion Canadian dollars ($760 million). Saint-Jacques said if someone in Canada falsified documents under this kind of scrutiny from the Chinese it needs to be investigated. "In normal times this would not happen, but in these times China gives Canada no leeway," he said. |
How Does Investing In Bedmutha Industries Limited (NSE:BEDMUTHA) Impact The Volatility Of Your Portfolio?
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If you own shares in Bedmutha Industries Limited (NSE:BEDMUTHA) then it's worth thinking about how it contributes to the volatility of your portfolio, overall. In finance, Beta is a measure of volatility. Modern finance theory considers volatility to be a measure of risk, and there are two main types of price volatility. The first type is company specific volatility. Investors use diversification across uncorrelated stocks to reduce this kind of price volatility across the portfolio. The second type is the broader market volatility, which you cannot diversify away, since it arises from macroeconomic factors which directly affects all the stocks on the market.
Some stocks mimic the volatility of the market quite closely, while others demonstrate muted, exagerrated or uncorrelated price movements. Beta is a widely used metric to measure a stock's exposure to market risk (volatility). Before we go on, it's worth noting that Warren Buffett pointed out in his 2014 letter to shareholders that 'volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' Having said that, beta can still be rather useful. The first thing to understand about beta is that the beta of the overall market is one. A stock with a beta below one is either less volatile than the market, or more volatile but not corellated with the overall market. In comparison a stock with a beta of over one tends to be move in a similar direction to the market in the long term, but with greater changes in price.
View our latest analysis for Bedmutha Industries
Given that it has a beta of 0.85, we can surmise that the Bedmutha Industries share price has not been strongly impacted by broader market volatility (over the last 5 years). If history is a good guide, owning the stock should help ensure that your portfolio is not overly sensitive to market volatility. Beta is worth considering, but it's also important to consider whether Bedmutha Industries is growing earnings and revenue. You can take a look for yourself, below.
With a market capitalisation of ₹361m, Bedmutha Industries is a very small company by global standards. It is quite likely to be unknown to most investors. It is not unusual for very small companies to have a low beta value, especially if only low volumes of shares are traded. Even when they are traded more actively, the share price is often more susceptible to company specific developments than overall market volatility.
The Bedmutha Industries doesn't usually show much sensitivity to the broader market. This could be for a variety of reasons. Typically, smaller companies have a low beta if their share price tends to move a lot due to company specific developments. Alternatively, an strong dividend payer might move less than the market because investors are valuing it for its income stream. This article aims to educate investors about beta values, but it's well worth looking at important company-specific fundamentals such as Bedmutha Industries’s financial health and performance track record. I highly recommend you dive deeper by considering the following:
1. Financial Health: Are BEDMUTHA’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out ourfinancial health checks here.
2. Past Track Record: Has BEDMUTHA been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look atthe free visual representations of BEDMUTHA's historicalsfor more clarity.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore ourfree list of these great stocks here.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Read This Before Judging BEML Limited's (NSE:BEML) ROE
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While some investors are already well versed in financial metrics (hat tip), this article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE) and why it is important. We'll use ROE to examine BEML Limited (NSE:BEML), by way of a worked example.
Over the last twelve monthsBEML has recorded a ROE of 2.9%. One way to conceptualize this, is that for each ₹1 of shareholders' equity it has, the company made ₹0.029 in profit.
See our latest analysis for BEML
Theformula for return on equityis:
Return on Equity = Net Profit ÷ Shareholders' Equity
Or for BEML:
2.9% = ₹632m ÷ ₹22b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2019.)
Most readers would understand what net profit is, but it’s worth explaining the concept of shareholders’ equity. It is all earnings retained by the company, plus any capital paid in by shareholders. You can calculate shareholders' equity by subtracting the company's total liabilities from its total assets.
Return on Equity measures a company's profitability against the profit it has kept for the business (plus any capital injections). The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. A higher profit will lead to a higher ROE. So, as a general rule,a high ROE is a good thing. That means ROE can be used to compare two businesses.
One simple way to determine if a company has a good return on equity is to compare it to the average for its industry. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. As shown in the graphic below, BEML has a lower ROE than the average (11%) in the Machinery industry classification.
That certainly isn't ideal. We prefer it when the ROE of a company is above the industry average, but it's not the be-all and end-all if it is lower. Still,shareholders might want to check if insiders have been selling.
Most companies need money -- from somewhere -- to grow their profits. The cash for investment can come from prior year profits (retained earnings), issuing new shares, or borrowing. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the debt used for growth will improve returns, but won't affect the total equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same.
Although BEML does use debt, its debt to equity ratio of 0.18 is still low. Its ROE is certainly on the low side, and since it already uses debt, we're not too excited about the company. Conservative use of debt to boost returns is usually a good move for shareholders, though it does leave the company more exposed to interest rate rises.
Return on equity is a useful indicator of the ability of a business to generate profits and return them to shareholders. Companies that can achieve high returns on equity without too much debt are generally of good quality. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, I'd generally prefer the one with higher ROE.
But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. Profit growth rates, versus the expectations reflected in the price of the stock, are a particularly important to consider. Check the past profit growth by BEML by looking at thisvisualization of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
Of courseBEML may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see thisfreecollection of other companies that have high ROE and low debt.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Dollar inches higher after Fed curbs dovish enthusiasm
By Stanley White
TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar edged up from a three-month low on Wednesday, as investors dialled back expectations for aggressive U.S. rate cuts next month but broader conviction the Federal Reserve will need to ease policy soon capped greenback gains.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday stressed the central bank's independence from U.S. President Donald Trump, who is pushing for aggressive rate cuts. While this hosed down expectations for a half percentage point cut at the Fed's July meeting, investors are still expecting at least a quarter percentage point reduction.
The dollar index against a basket of currencies stood at 96.176 on Wednesday, just above a three-month low of 95.843 touched on Tuesday.
The yen traded near its highest versus the dollar in more than five months and is likely to edge higher as military tensions between the United States and Iran boost demand for safe-haven currencies.
However, trading is likely to subdued as the focus shifts to a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a Group of 20 summit over the weekend, but expectations are low for a breakthrough that would end the dispute between the world's two-largest economies.
"The dollar's upside is heavy, particularly against the yen," said Junichi Ishikawa, senior foreign exchange strategist at IG Securities.
"Powell is worried about curbing excess expectations, but Treasury yields are clearly heading lower and U.S. economic data are not looking great. A rate cut in July is a done deal."
Interest rate futures traders are now pricing in a 33% chance of a 50 basis point cut at the Fed's July meeting, down from 38% earlier, while a cut of at least 25 basis points is seen as certain, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
Despite the slight moderation in Fed cut hopes, benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields slipped below 2% due to worries about a prolonged U.S.-China trade war.
The U.S. currency was little changed at 107.16 yen after falling to 106.77 yen, its lowest since its flash crash in early January.
The euro traded at $1.1367, pulling back slightly from a three-month high of $1.1412.
The British pound traded at $1.2690, stuck near a session low before the Bank of England publishes its closely-watched quarterly inflation forecasts later on Wednesday.
The BoE has said rates would need to rise in a gradual fashion as long as Britain avoids a no-deal exit from the European Union.
However, sterling remains dogged by concerns that eurosceptic Boris Johnson will become Britain's next prime minister, increasing the chance of a no-deal Brexit.
(Editing by Sam Holmes) |
3 Small-Cap Stocks With Big-Cap Potential
Change can be stressful, and today's technology-forward environment means change is happening often and at a fast pace. Where some see instability, though, investors see opportunity.
Most small businesses don't make it, getting either gobbled up by larger peers or steamrolled by innovation. But for a select few, a world in flux means opportunity to exploit new trends and expand. Getting in on such small stocks can mean big returns down the road. Here are three that our Motley Fool contributors think have big potential:Upwork(NASDAQ: UPWK),Inseego(NASDAQ: INSG), andHEXO(NYSEMKT: HEXO).
Nicholas Rossolillo(Upwork):For most Americans, "work" is still a four-letter word that means commuting to a job, putting in a set number of hours, and receiving a paycheck in exchange for said time. For a growing number of individuals, though, work -- or at least a part-time side hustle -- doesn't fit within that convention. Flexible or freelance work, often found or done on the internet, is on the rise.
Some estimates put as much as a third of the U.S. workforce into what's become known as the "gig economy." Yet the gig industry is still very fragmented, and many freelancers still find work haphazardly. Upwork is trying to change that. The company operates an online network that matches workers with projects and jobs and provides other value-added services to both businesses and the people who can fulfill business needs.
In spite of the size of the gig economy, Upwork is still very small -- currently carrying a market cap of just $1.6 billion. The stock is down some 25% since its public debut in the fall of 2018, but that isn't because the business is shrinking. On the contrary, revenue increased 16% year over year during thefirst quarter of 2019, and full-year revenue is expected to rise at least 18% to $299 million.
Some of the downbeat mood surrounding the stock has to do with a recent slowdown in the business' trajectory -- 2018 revenue grew 25% -- and the fact that Upwork isn't yet profitable. However, guidance for 2019 implies things will pick up steam again soon, and the company expects to at least break even this year when backing out stock-based compensation and other one-time items. Nevertheless, this small company is not for the faint of heart, but as the workforce continues to evolve with the digital age, Upwork is in a prime position to benefit.
Image source: Getty Images.
Anders Bylund(Inseego):So you expect 5G wireless technologies to shake up the telecom and general IT markets around the world. Cool. I agree. But you don't know how toseparate the winners from the less fortunate wannabesas the 5G revolution rolls out. OK. What if I told you that you don't have to pick a winning telecom or enterprise computing giant to profit from the 5G boom? Inseego looks like a slam-dunk winner in this sea change, no matter what the big boys end up doing.
This company provides cloud computing and advanced networking solutions for businesses both large and small. Already a leading supplier of 4G wireless connectivity solutions for the current generation of the Internet of Things, Inseego is keeping a hungry eye on the 5G-powered opportunities coming up next.
Analyst firm Cowen expects Inseego to harvest average revenue growth of roughly 20% per year over the next five years, valuing Inseego's stock at nearly 80% above its current price.
Inseego is unprofitable today alongside negative free cash flows. Those details are deal-breakers for some investors, which is why the shares are valued at just 1.8 times trailing sales or 17 times forward earnings estimates. This $359 million micro-cap company is poised to explorea brand new target market of epic proportions.
Todd Campbell(HEXO):Canada's recreational-marijuana market captured over 10% of total marijuana spending in Canada during the fourth quarter, but sales in January and February were below December's pace, and that's left marijuana investors scratching their heads as marijuana stocks like HEXO have sold off.
While there's no guarantee that legal, adult-use sales will reignite, improving supply could rekindle demand. We may already be seeing that happen, given March's adult-use revenue set a new one-month high. More needle-moving would be the approval of value-added products for the recreational market, including vapes and edibles. A decision on those products is expected later this year.
If recreational sales accelerate, I think HEXO will be one of the industry's big winners. The company's marijuana productionsurged to 9,804 kiloslast quarter, up 98% quarter over quarter, and infrastructure coming online is expected to increase annual production to about 150,000 kilos.
The upcoming production increase has HEXO maintaining an outlook for sales of $400 million in fiscal 2020. That would be a remarkable increase from its existing annualized rate of about CA$64 million. If the company executes on that goal, then HEXO's current $1.45 billion market cap may make its shares one of the industry's biggest bargains right now.
More From The Motley Fool
• Beginner's Guide to Investing in Marijuana Stocks
• Marijuana Stocks Are Overhyped: 10 Better Buys for You Now
• Your 2019 Guide to Investing in Marijuana Stocks
Anders Bylundhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned.Nicholas Rossolillohas no position in any of the stocks mentioned.Todd Campbellhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends HEXO and Upwork. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. |
Hedge Funds Have Never Been This Bullish On Myers Industries, Inc. (MYE)
Hedge fund managers like David Einhorn, Bill Ackman, or Carl Icahn became billionaires through reaping large profits for their investors, which is why piggybacking their stock picks may provide us with significant returns as well. Many hedge funds, like Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, are pretty secretive, but we can still get some insights by analyzing their quarterly 13F filings. One of the most fertile grounds for large abnormal returns is hedge funds’ most popular small-cap picks, which are not so widely followed and often trade at a discount to their intrinsic value. In this article we will check out hedge fund activity in another small-cap stock: Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE).
Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE)investors should pay attention to an increase in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months. Our calculations also showed that MYE isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
So, why do we pay attention to hedge fund sentiment before making any investment decisions? Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter. Even if you aren't comfortable with shorting stocks, you should at least avoid initiating long positions in our short portfolio.
We're going to analyze the key hedge fund action regarding Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE).
At Q1's end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 75% from the previous quarter. On the other hand, there were a total of 5 hedge funds with a bullish position in MYE a year ago. With the smart money's positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
More specifically,GAMCO Investorswas the largest shareholder of Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE), with a stake worth $72.7 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing GAMCO Investors was Renaissance Technologies, which amassed a stake valued at $15.6 million. Wallace R. Weitz & Co., Arrowstreet Capital, and Citadel Investment Group were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
As industrywide interest jumped, some big names were breaking ground themselves.Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, assembled the most outsized position in Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE). Arrowstreet Capital had $1.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Harding'sWinton Capital Managementalso made a $0.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new MYE investors: Israel Englander'sMillennium Management, Noam Gottesman'sGLG Partners, and Paul Tudor Jones'sTudor Investment Corp.
Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE). We will take a look at Cresud S.A.C.I.F. y A. (NASDAQ:CRESY), First Foundation Inc (NASDAQ:FFWM), Niu Technologies (NASDAQ:NIU), and Fang Holdings Limited (NYSE:SFUN). All of these stocks' market caps are closest to MYE's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position CRESY,7,28912,0 FFWM,11,77117,0 NIU,2,29270,-1 SFUN,8,1786,-1 Average,7,34271,-0.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 7 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $34 million. That figure was $97 million in MYE's case. First Foundation Inc (NASDAQ:FFWM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Niu Technologies (NASDAQ:NIU) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on MYE as the stock returned 8.9% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin. Hedge funds were clearly right about piling into this stock relative to other stocks with similar market capitalizations.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Is Team, Inc. (TISI) A Good Stock To Buy?
Investing in small cap stocks has historically been a way to outperform the market, as small cap companies typically grow faster on average than the blue chips. That outperformance comes with a price, however, as there are occasional periods of higher volatility. The last 8 months is one of those periods, as the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) has underperformed the larger S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 9 percentage points. Given that the funds we track tend to have a disproportionate amount of their portfolios in smaller cap stocks, they have seen some volatility in their portfolios too. Actually their moves are potentially one of the factors that contributed to this volatility. In this article, we use our extensive database of hedge fund holdings to find out what the smart money thinks of Team, Inc. (NYSE:TISI).
Team, Inc. (NYSE:TISI)has seen an increase in support from the world's most elite money managers recently. Our calculations also showed that TISI isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
So, why do we pay attention to hedge fund sentiment before making any investment decisions? Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter. Even if you aren't comfortable with shorting stocks, you should at least avoid initiating long positions in our short portfolio.
Let's take a peek at the key hedge fund action encompassing Team, Inc. (NYSE:TISI).
At Q1's end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 17% from one quarter earlier. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards TISI over the last 15 quarters. With the smart money's capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Mario Gabelli'sGAMCO Investorshas the largest position in Team, Inc. (NYSE:TISI), worth close to $28.2 million, amounting to 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio. On GAMCO Investors's heels isAriel Investments, led by John W. Rogers, holding a $25.3 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers with similar optimism contain Chuck Royce'sRoyce & Associates, Todd J. Kantor'sEncompass Capital Advisorsand Peter Schliemann'sRutabaga Capital Management.
As aggregate interest increased, key money managers were breaking ground themselves.Encompass Capital Advisors, managed by Todd J. Kantor, initiated the most valuable position in Team, Inc. (NYSE:TISI). Encompass Capital Advisors had $10.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Andrew Feldstein and Stephen Siderow'sBlue Mountain Capitalalso initiated a $0.6 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are John A. Levin'sLevin Capital Strategiesand Paul Marshall and Ian Wace'sMarshall Wace LLP.
Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Team, Inc. (NYSE:TISI). These stocks are Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX), 111, Inc. (NASDAQ:YI), Montage Resources Corporation (NYSE:MR), and Boston Omaha Corporation (NASDAQ:BOMN). This group of stocks' market caps match TISI's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position NX,16,44813,0 YI,3,13149,0 MR,12,52736,4 BOMN,5,261009,1 Average,9,92927,1.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 9 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $93 million. That figure was $95 million in TISI's case. Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand 111, Inc. (NASDAQ:YI) is the least popular one with only 3 bullish hedge fund positions. Team, Inc. (NYSE:TISI) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately TISI wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on TISI were disappointed as the stock returned -16.5% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Is Aerohive Networks Inc (HIVE) A Good Stock To Buy?
It was a rough fourth quarter for many hedge funds, which were naturally unable to overcome the big dip in the broad market, as the S&P 500 fell by about 4.8% during 2018 and average hedge fund losing about 1%. The Russell 2000, composed of smaller companies, performed even worse, trailing the S&P by more than 6 percentage points, as investors fled less-known quantities for safe havens. Luckily hedge funds were shifting their holdings into large-cap stocks. The 20 most popular hedge fund stocks actually generated an average return of 18.7% so far in 2019 and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF by 6.6 percentage points. We are done processing the latest 13f filings and in this article we will study how hedge fund sentiment towards Aerohive Networks Inc (NYSE:HIVE) changed during the first quarter.
Aerohive Networks Inc (NYSE:HIVE)shareholders have witnessed a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months. Our calculations also showed that HIVE isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
So, why do we pay attention to hedge fund sentiment before making any investment decisions? Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter. Even if you aren't comfortable with shorting stocks, you should at least avoid initiating long positions in our short portfolio.
Let's check out the recent hedge fund action encompassing Aerohive Networks Inc (NYSE:HIVE).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -7% from the previous quarter. By comparison, 13 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in HIVE a year ago. So, let's review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey,Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the most valuable position in Aerohive Networks Inc (NYSE:HIVE). Renaissance Technologies has a $18.5 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. On Renaissance Technologies's heels isLynrock Lake, led by Cynthia Paul, holding a $18 million position; 4.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other members of the smart money that are bullish include Jonathan Guo'sYiheng Capital, Chuck Royce'sRoyce & Associatesand D. E. Shaw'sD E Shaw.
Seeing as Aerohive Networks Inc (NYSE:HIVE) has experienced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it's easy to see that there is a sect of money managers who were dropping their full holdings heading into Q3. It's worth mentioning that Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle'sSpringbok Capitaldumped the largest position of all the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, valued at about $0.1 million in stock, and Matthew Hulsizer's PEAK6 Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $0.1 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds heading into Q3.
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Aerohive Networks Inc (NYSE:HIVE) but similarly valued. These stocks are Ames National Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLO), Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST), MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:MX), and Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSEAMEX:UEC). This group of stocks' market valuations are similar to HIVE's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position ATLO,3,19629,0 SFST,7,32133,1 MX,18,104030,-2 UEC,9,7730,3 Average,9.25,40881,0.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 9.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $41 million. That figure was $70 million in HIVE's case. MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:MX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Ames National Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLO) is the least popular one with only 3 bullish hedge fund positions. Aerohive Networks Inc (NYSE:HIVE) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately HIVE wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on HIVE were disappointed as the stock returned -27.8% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Is AK Steel Holding Corporation (AKS) A Good Stock To Buy?
Is AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS) a good investment right now? We check hedge fund and billionaire investor sentiment before delving into hours of research. Hedge funds spend millions of dollars on Ivy League graduates, expert networks, and get tips from investment bankers and industry insiders. Sure they sometimes fail miserably, but their consensus stock picks historically outperformed the market after adjusting for known risk factors.
AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS)was in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. AKS investors should pay attention to a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately. There were 15 hedge funds in our database with AKS positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that AKS isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
At the moment there are a large number of tools market participants use to size up stocks. Two of the most useful tools are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top fund managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a solid margin (see the details here).
[caption id="attachment_30576" align="aligncenter" width="501"]
Glenn Russell Dubin of Highbridge Capital[/caption]
Let's take a gander at the key hedge fund action encompassing AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -13% from the fourth quarter of 2018. On the other hand, there were a total of 25 hedge funds with a bullish position in AKS a year ago. So, let's examine which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS) was held byHBK Investments, which reported holding $6.6 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by DC Capital Partners with a $5.5 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Maverick Capital, Citadel Investment Group, and Royce & Associates.
Judging by the fact that AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS) has faced a decline in interest from the smart money, logic holds that there lies a certain "tier" of fund managers that decided to sell off their positions entirely last quarter. At the top of the heap, Ken Griffin'sCitadel Investment Groupsold off the largest stake of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, comprising close to $12.9 million in stock. Noam Gottesman's fund,GLG Partners, also sold off its stock, about $4.6 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds last quarter.
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS). These stocks are Chase Corporation (NYSE:CCF), Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW), NorthStar Realty Europe Corp. (NYSE:NRE), and Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:EDN). All of these stocks' market caps are similar to AKS's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position CCF,9,89059,4 TDW,15,215883,1 NRE,9,98233,-4 EDN,5,12274,-1 Average,9.5,103862,0 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 9.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $104 million. That figure was $29 million in AKS's case. Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:EDN) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately AKS wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on AKS were disappointed as the stock returned -16.7% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here is What Hedge Funds Think About CECO Environmental Corp. (CECE)
The market has been volatile in the last 6 months as the Federal Reserve continued its rate hikes and then abruptly reversed its stance and uncertainty looms over trade negotiations with China. Small cap stocks have been hit hard as a result, as the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) has underperformed the larger S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 9 percentage points. SEC filings and hedge fund investor letters indicate that the smart money seems to be paring back their overall long exposure since summer months, though some funds increased their exposure dramatically at the end of Q4 and the beginning of Q1. In this article, we analyze what the smart money thinks of CECO Environmental Corp. (NASDAQ:CECE) and find out how it is affected by hedge funds' moves.
IsCECO Environmental Corp. (NASDAQ:CECE)an outstanding investment today? Investors who are in the know are getting more optimistic. The number of bullish hedge fund positions improved by 3 lately. Our calculations also showed that CECE isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.CECEwas in 14 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with CECE positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In the eyes of most traders, hedge funds are viewed as slow, old investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are over 8000 funds with their doors open at present, We choose to focus on the elite of this club, around 750 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group of people orchestrate the majority of all hedge funds' total asset base, and by keeping an eye on their first-class investments, Insider Monkey has formulated several investment strategies that have historically surpassed the broader indices. Insider Monkey's flagship hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by around 5 percentage points per annum since its inception in May 2014 through June 18th. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 28.2% since February 2017 (through June 18th) even though the market was up nearly 30% during the same period. We just shared a list of 5 short targets in ourlatest quarterly updateand they are already down an average of 8.2% in a month whereas our long picks outperformed the market by 2.5 percentage points in this volatile 5 week period (our long picks also beat the market by 15 percentage points so far this year).
We're going to take a gander at the new hedge fund action encompassing CECO Environmental Corp. (NASDAQ:CECE).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 27% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards CECE over the last 15 quarters. With hedge funds' sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were adding to their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
More specifically,Trigran Investmentswas the largest shareholder of CECO Environmental Corp. (NASDAQ:CECE), with a stake worth $34.2 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Trigran Investments was D E Shaw, which amassed a stake valued at $1.5 million. Renaissance Technologies, Arrowstreet Capital, and Minerva Advisors were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Consequently, key money managers have jumped into CECO Environmental Corp. (NASDAQ:CECE) headfirst.Minerva Advisors, managed by David P. Cohen, initiated the most valuable position in CECO Environmental Corp. (NASDAQ:CECE). Minerva Advisors had $1.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Marshall and Ian Wace'sMarshall Wace LLPalso made a $0.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new CECE positions are Thomas Bailard'sBailard Incand Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle'sSpringbok Capital.
Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as CECO Environmental Corp. (NASDAQ:CECE) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB), Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRSN), Era Group Inc (NYSE:ERA), and Dova Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:DOVA). All of these stocks' market caps match CECE's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position WNEB,4,22374,-1 MRSN,16,76424,12 ERA,9,44209,2 DOVA,4,28867,0 Average,8.25,42969,3.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 8.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $43 million. That figure was $41 million in CECE's case. Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRSN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WNEB) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. CECO Environmental Corp. (NASDAQ:CECE) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on CECE as the stock returned 23.3% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Sientra Inc (SIEN)
Insider Monkey has processed numerous 13F filings of hedge funds and successful investors to create an extensive database of hedge fund holdings. The 13F filings show the hedge funds' and successful investors' positions as of the end of the first quarter. You can find write-ups about an individual hedge fund's trades on numerous financial news websites. However, in this article we will take a look at their collective moves and analyze what the smart money thinks of Sientra Inc (NASDAQ:SIEN) based on that data.
Hedge fund interest inSientra Inc (NASDAQ:SIEN)shares was flat at the end of last quarter. This is usually a negative indicator. At the end of this article we will also compare SIEN to other stocks including Tocagen Inc. (NASDAQ:TOCA), Celyad SA (EBR:CYAD), and Purple Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRPL) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
We're going to take a gander at the key hedge fund action surrounding Sientra Inc (NASDAQ:SIEN).
At Q1's end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. By comparison, 13 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in SIEN a year ago. So, let's examine which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in Sientra Inc (NASDAQ:SIEN) was held byDeerfield Management, which reported holding $23.4 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by Millennium Management with a $13.7 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Granite Point Capital, Pura Vida Investments, and Two Sigma Advisors.
Since Sientra Inc (NASDAQ:SIEN) has experienced falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it's easy to see that there were a few funds that slashed their positions entirely in the third quarter. Interestingly, Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley'sPolar Capitalcut the largest stake of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, worth close to $11.5 million in stock, and Richard Driehaus's Driehaus Capital was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $10.2 million worth. These moves are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Sientra Inc (NASDAQ:SIEN) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Tocagen Inc. (NASDAQ:TOCA), Celyad SA (NASDAQ:CYAD), Purple Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRPL), and Cerecor Inc. (NASDAQ:CERC). This group of stocks' market values resemble SIEN's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position TOCA,8,13818,-1 CYAD,1,554,0 PRPL,4,29487,1 CERC,6,122126,1 Average,4.75,41496,0.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 4.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $41 million. That figure was $52 million in SIEN's case. Tocagen Inc. (NASDAQ:TOCA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Celyad SA (NASDAQ:CYAD) is the least popular one with only 1 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Sientra Inc (NASDAQ:SIEN) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately SIEN wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on SIEN were disappointed as the stock returned -20.3% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Did Hedge Funds Drop The Ball On USA Technologies, Inc. (USAT) ?
The 700+ hedge funds and famous money managers tracked by Insider Monkey have already compiled and submitted their 13F filings for the first quarter, which unveil their equity positions as of March 31. We went through these filings, fixed typos and other more significant errors and identified the changes in hedge fund portfolios. Our extensive review of these public filings is finally over, so this article is set to reveal the smart money sentiment towards USA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAT).
IsUSA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAT)an attractive investment right now? Investors who are in the know are becoming less confident. The number of bullish hedge fund positions were cut by 4 in recent months. Our calculations also showed that USAT isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.USATwas in 14 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. There were 18 hedge funds in our database with USAT holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
We're going to analyze the latest hedge fund action regarding USA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAT).
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -22% from one quarter earlier. On the other hand, there were a total of 12 hedge funds with a bullish position in USAT a year ago. With hedge funds' positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey,Ardsley Partners, managed by Philip Hempleman, holds the largest position in USA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAT). Ardsley Partners has a $17.7 million position in the stock, comprising 3.4% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager isG2 Investment Partners Management, managed by Josh Goldberg, which holds a $9.3 million position; the fund has 2.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that are bullish comprise Himanshu Gulati'sAntara Capital, Thomas Ellis and Todd Hammer'sNorth Run Capitaland Spencer M. Waxman'sShannon River Fund Management.
Judging by the fact that USA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAT) has experienced a decline in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there is a sect of fund managers that decided to sell off their entire stakes last quarter. It's worth mentioning that Jim Simons'sRenaissance Technologiessold off the largest investment of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, totaling close to $4.3 million in call options. Himanshu Gulati's fund,Antara Capital, also said goodbye to its call options, about $1.2 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds last quarter.
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as USA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAT) but similarly valued. These stocks are Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ:CGEN), Monroe Capital Corp (NASDAQ:MRCC), ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACMR), and Aldeyra Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ALDX). This group of stocks' market caps are closest to USAT's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position CGEN,3,6532,-1 MRCC,4,2895,1 ACMR,2,181,2 ALDX,16,70394,1 Average,6.25,20001,0.75 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 6.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $20 million. That figure was $44 million in USAT's case. Aldeyra Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ALDX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACMR) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. USA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAT) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on USAT as the stock returned 91.3% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Hedge Funds Have Never Been This Bullish On Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA)
At Insider Monkey we follow nearly 750 of the best-performing investors and even though many of them lost money in the last couple of months of 2018 (some actually delivered very strong returns), the history teaches us that over the long-run they still manage to beat the market, which is why it can be profitable for us to imitate their activity. Of course, even the best money managers can sometimes get it wrong, but following some of their picks gives us a better chance to outperform the crowd than picking a random stock and this is where our research comes in.
Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA)was in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. KELYA investors should be aware of an increase in support from the world's most elite money managers in recent months. There were 10 hedge funds in our database with KELYA holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that KELYA isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the financial world there are a large number of tools investors have at their disposal to grade stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid amount. Insider Monkey's flagship best performing hedge funds strategy returned 25.8% year to date (through May 30th) and outperformed the market even though it draws its stock picks among small-cap stocks. This strategy also outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since its inception (see the details here). That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is a useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
We're going to view the fresh hedge fund action encompassing Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA).
At Q1's end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 30% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards KELYA over the last 15 quarters. So, let's examine which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
More specifically,Diamond Hill Capitalwas the largest shareholder of Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA), with a stake worth $6.4 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Diamond Hill Capital was Arrowstreet Capital, which amassed a stake valued at $2.7 million. AQR Capital Management, Renaissance Technologies, and Two Sigma Advisors were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key money managers were breaking ground themselves.Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, initiated the most outsized position in Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA). Arrowstreet Capital had $2.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander'sMillennium Managementalso made a $0.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Ken Griffin'sCitadel Investment Group, Thomas Bailard'sBailard Inc, and Michael Platt and William Reeves'sBlueCrest Capital Mgmt..
Let's now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) but similarly valued. These stocks are Tutor Perini Corp (NYSE:TPC), Enviva Partners, LP (NYSE:EVA), Natus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:BABY), and The Providence Service Corporation (NASDAQ:PRSC). This group of stocks' market caps resemble KELYA's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position TPC,12,17648,5 EVA,7,89870,1 BABY,24,110207,9 PRSC,12,181177,-2 Average,13.75,99726,3.25 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 13.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $100 million. That figure was $19 million in KELYA's case. Natus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:BABY) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Enviva Partners, LP (NYSE:EVA) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. A small number of hedge funds were also right about betting on KELYA as the stock returned 15.9% during the same time frame and outperformed the market by an even larger margin.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Cutera, Inc. (CUTR)
How do we determine whether Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR) makes for a good investment at the moment? We analyze the sentiment of a select group of the very best investors in the world, who spend immense amounts of time and resources studying companies. They may not always be right (no one is), but data shows that their consensus long positions have historically outperformed the market when we adjust for known risk factors.
IsCutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR)a good investment today? Hedge funds are becoming less hopeful. The number of long hedge fund positions were trimmed by 3 recently. Our calculations also showed that CUTR isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the financial world there are tons of methods shareholders can use to grade stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar methods are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can beat the market by a significant margin (see the details here).
Let's take a peek at the recent hedge fund action encompassing Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR).
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -18% from the previous quarter. By comparison, 14 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in CUTR a year ago. So, let's examine which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds,GAMCO Investorsheld the most valuable stake in Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR), which was worth $19.4 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was Renaissance Technologies which amassed $10.7 million worth of shares. Moreover, Archon Capital Management, Voce Capital, and AQR Capital Management were also bullish on Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
Because Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR) has witnessed declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it's safe to say that there were a few hedge funds who sold off their positions entirely by the end of the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Noam Gottesman'sGLG Partnerssaid goodbye to the largest stake of all the hedgies watched by Insider Monkey, valued at about $0.8 million in stock, and Josh Goldberg's G2 Investment Partners Management was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $0.8 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell by 3 funds by the end of the third quarter.
Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR). We will take a look at BayCom Corp (NASDAQ:BCML), Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS), Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC), and Xunlei Ltd (NASDAQ:XNET). This group of stocks' market valuations are similar to CUTR's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position BCML,4,21871,0 ACRS,16,105972,-1 WLFC,2,21209,1 XNET,6,1860,0 Average,7,37728,0 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 7 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $38 million. That figure was $55 million in CUTR's case. Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on CUTR as the stock returned 13.9% during the same period and outperformed the market by an even larger margin. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Is Balrampur Chini Mills Limited's (NSE:BALRAMCHIN) CEO Overpaid Relative To Its Peers?
Want to participate in a short research study ? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! The CEO of Balrampur Chini Mills Limited ( NSE:BALRAMCHIN ) is Vivek Saraogi. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels. See our latest analysis for Balrampur Chini Mills How Does Vivek Saraogi's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies? According to our data, Balrampur Chini Mills Limited has a market capitalization of ₹30b, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth ₹61m. (This figure is for the year to March 2018). While we always look at total compensation first, we note that the salary component is less, at ₹24m. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations from ₹14b to ₹55b, and the median CEO total compensation was ₹23m. As you can see, Vivek Saraogi is paid more than the median CEO pay at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this does not necessarily mean Balrampur Chini Mills Limited is paying too much. A closer look at the performance of the underlying business will give us a better idea about whether the pay is particularly generous. You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Balrampur Chini Mills has changed over time. NSEI:BALRAMCHIN CEO Compensation, June 26th 2019 Is Balrampur Chini Mills Limited Growing? On average over the last three years, Balrampur Chini Mills Limited has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 31% each year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is down -1.3% over last year. Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. The lack of revenue growth isn't ideal, but it is the bottom line that counts most in business. Although we don't have analyst forecasts, shareholders might want to examine this detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow. Story continues Has Balrampur Chini Mills Limited Been A Good Investment? With a total shareholder return of 16% over three years, Balrampur Chini Mills Limited shareholders would, in general, be reasonably content. But they probably don't want to see the CEO paid more than is normal for companies around the same size. In Summary... We compared the total CEO remuneration paid by Balrampur Chini Mills Limited, and compared it to remuneration at a group of similar sized companies. As discussed above, we discovered that the company pays more than the median of that group. However, the earnings per share growth over three years is certainly impressive. We also think investors are doing ok, over the same time period. You might wish to research management further, but on this analysis, considering the EPS growth, we wouldn't call the CEO pay problematic. Whatever your view on compensation, you might want to check if insiders are buying or selling Balrampur Chini Mills shares (free trial). Important note: Balrampur Chini Mills may not be the best stock to buy. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt. We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com . This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (RCKT)
We at Insider Monkey have gone over 738 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the SEC The 13F filings show the funds' and investors' portfolio positions as of March 31st. In this article, we look at what those funds think of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT) based on that data.
Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT)has experienced a decrease in support from the world's most elite money managers lately. Our calculations also showed that RCKT isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
To most market participants, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, old investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, Our researchers look at the masters of this club, approximately 750 funds. These money managers preside over bulk of the smart money's total capital, and by keeping track of their inimitable stock picks, Insider Monkey has come up with a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the broader indices. Insider Monkey's flagship hedge fund strategy defeated the S&P 500 index by around 5 percentage points annually since its inception in May 2014 through June 18th. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 28.2% since February 2017 (through June 18th) even though the market was up nearly 30% during the same period. We just shared a list of 5 short targets in ourlatest quarterly updateand they are already down an average of 8.2% in a month whereas our long picks outperformed the market by 2.5 percentage points in this volatile 5 week period (our long picks also beat the market by 15 percentage points so far this year).
Let's take a look at the latest hedge fund action regarding Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT).
At Q1's end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -7% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards RCKT over the last 15 quarters. So, let's check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT) was held byTang Capital Management, which reported holding $52 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by Adage Capital Management with a $42.1 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Cormorant Asset Management, Bridger Management, and Citadel Investment Group.
Due to the fact that Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT) has faced a decline in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there lies a certain "tier" of funds who were dropping their entire stakes last quarter. Interestingly, Jacob Doft'sHighline Capital Managementcut the biggest stake of all the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, valued at an estimated $6.1 million in stock, and D. E. Shaw's D E Shaw was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $0.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds last quarter.
Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT). These stocks are Regis Corporation (NYSE:RGS), CymaBay Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CBAY), Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:NCI), and Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI). This group of stocks' market values are similar to RCKT's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position RGS,15,293013,3 CBAY,29,407226,2 NCI,15,27692,-2 MCRI,10,130391,0 Average,17.25,214581,0.75 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 17.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $215 million. That figure was $212 million in RCKT's case. CymaBay Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CBAY) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKT) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately RCKT wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was quite bearish); RCKT investors were disappointed as the stock returned -2.6% during the same time period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Hedge Funds Have Never Been This Bullish On OneSpan Inc. (OSPN)
Concerns over rising interest rates and expected further rate increases have hit several stocks hard during the fourth quarter. Trends reversed 180 degrees during the first quarter amid Powell's pivot and optimistic expectations towards a trade deal with China. Hedge funds and institutional investors tracked by Insider Monkey usually invest a disproportionate amount of their portfolios in smaller cap stocks. We have been receiving indications that hedge funds were increasing their overall exposure in the first quarter and this is one of the factors behind the recent movements in major indices. In this article, we will take a closer look at hedge fund sentiment towards OneSpan Inc. (NASDAQ:OSPN).
OneSpan Inc. (NASDAQ:OSPN)investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund interest of late. Our calculations also showed that OSPN isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Today there are a large number of methods shareholders can use to value publicly traded companies. Two of the less utilized methods are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can outperform the market by a solid amount (see the details here).
We're going to go over the key hedge fund action regarding OneSpan Inc. (NASDAQ:OSPN).
At Q1's end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 8% from the previous quarter. By comparison, 0 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in OSPN a year ago. With the smart money's positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were adding to their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
More specifically,Legion Partners Asset Managementwas the largest shareholder of OneSpan Inc. (NASDAQ:OSPN), with a stake worth $40.2 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Legion Partners Asset Management was Ancora Advisors, which amassed a stake valued at $9.1 million. D E Shaw, Archon Capital Management, and AQR Capital Management were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Now, key hedge funds have jumped into OneSpan Inc. (NASDAQ:OSPN) headfirst.Prescott Group Capital Management, managed by Phil Frohlich, initiated the biggest position in OneSpan Inc. (NASDAQ:OSPN). Prescott Group Capital Management had $0.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell'sArrowstreet Capitalalso initiated a $0.4 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Ken Griffin'sCitadel Investment Groupand Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle'sSpringbok Capital.
Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to OneSpan Inc. (NASDAQ:OSPN). These stocks are Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTLA), Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. (NYSE:AGM), NCI Building Systems, Inc. (NYSE:NCS), and Carolina Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CARO). This group of stocks' market caps are similar to OSPN's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position NTLA,10,16843,0 AGM,9,26105,0 NCS,17,65728,-3 CARO,7,47137,-1 Average,10.75,38953,-1 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 10.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $39 million. That figure was $71 million in OSPN's case. NCI Building Systems, Inc. (NYSE:NCS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Carolina Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CARO) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. OneSpan Inc. (NASDAQ:OSPN) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately OSPN wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on OSPN were disappointed as the stock returned -24.5% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. (CVGI)
Before we spend days researching a stock idea we like to take a look at how hedge funds and billionaire investors recently traded that stock. The S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY) lost 2.6% in the first two months of the second quarter. Ten out of 11 industry groups in the S&P 500 Index lost value in May. The average return of a randomly picked stock in the index was even worse (-3.6%). This means you (or a monkey throwing a dart) have less than an even chance of beating the market by randomly picking a stock. On the other hand, the top 20 most popular S&P 500 stocks among hedge funds not only generated positive returns but also outperformed the index by about 3 percentage points through May 30th. In this article, we will take a look at what hedge funds think about Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGI).
Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGI)has seen an increase in activity from the world's largest hedge funds recently.CVGIwas in 14 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with CVGI positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that CVGI isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
So, why do we pay attention to hedge fund sentiment before making any investment decisions? Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that underperformed the market by 10 percentage points annually between 2006 and 2017. Interestingly the margin of underperformance of these stocks has been increasing in recent years. Investors who are long the market and short these stocks would have returned more than 27% annually between 2015 and 2017. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 in our quarterly newsletter. Even if you aren't comfortable with shorting stocks, you should at least avoid initiating long positions in our short portfolio.
Let's take a glance at the new hedge fund action regarding Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGI).
At Q1's end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 27% from the fourth quarter of 2018. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in CVGI over the last 15 quarters. With hedgies' sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
More specifically,Royce & Associateswas the largest shareholder of Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGI), with a stake worth $17.2 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Royce & Associates was Renaissance Technologies, which amassed a stake valued at $14 million. DC Capital Partners, AQR Capital Management, and D E Shaw were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Now, key hedge funds have jumped into Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGI) headfirst.Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, established the most valuable position in Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGI). Arrowstreet Capital had $0.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Thomas Bailard'sBailard Incalso made a $0.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Peter Muller'sPDT Partners.
Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGI). We will take a look at J. Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL), resTORbio, Inc. (NASDAQ:TORC), Clipper Realty Inc. (NYSE:CLPR), and Value Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:VALU). This group of stocks' market values resemble CVGI's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position JILL,11,18712,1 TORC,6,43371,3 CLPR,6,49012,0 VALU,2,3653,0 Average,6.25,28687,1 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 6.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $29 million. That figure was $44 million in CVGI's case. J. Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Value Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:VALU) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGI) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately CVGI wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on CVGI were disappointed as the stock returned -4.8% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About National Presto Industries Inc. (NPK)
Our extensive research has shown that imitating the smart money can generate significant returns for retail investors, which is why we track nearly 750 active prominent money managers and analyze their quarterly 13F filings. The stocks that are heavily bought by hedge funds historically outperformed the market, though there is no shortage of high profile failures like hedge funds' 2018 losses in Facebook and Apple. Let’s take a closer look at what the funds we track think about National Presto Industries Inc. (NYSE:NPK) in this article.
Hedge fund interest inNational Presto Industries Inc. (NYSE:NPK)shares was flat at the end of last quarter. This is usually a negative indicator. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren't the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds' perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That's why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as UroGen Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ:URGN), Fidelity Southern Corporation (NASDAQ:LION), and Nanometrics Incorporated (NASDAQ:NANO) to gather more data points.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let's review the latest hedge fund action surrounding National Presto Industries Inc. (NYSE:NPK).
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from the fourth quarter of 2018. On the other hand, there were a total of 8 hedge funds with a bullish position in NPK a year ago. With hedge funds' capital changing hands, there exists an "upper tier" of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
The largest stake in National Presto Industries Inc. (NYSE:NPK) was held byRoyce & Associates, which reported holding $64 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by Renaissance Technologies with a $14.9 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Citadel Investment Group, Millennium Management, and AQR Capital Management.
Due to the fact that National Presto Industries Inc. (NYSE:NPK) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it's safe to say that there lies a certain "tier" of hedgies that slashed their positions entirely last quarter. At the top of the heap, Michael Platt and William Reeves'sBlueCrest Capital Mgmt.said goodbye to the biggest position of the 700 funds followed by Insider Monkey, totaling close to $0.3 million in stock, and Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle's Springbok Capital was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $0 million worth. These moves are important to note, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
Let's check out hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as National Presto Industries Inc. (NYSE:NPK) but similarly valued. We will take a look at UroGen Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ:URGN), Fidelity Southern Corporation (NASDAQ:LION), Nanometrics Incorporated (NASDAQ:NANO), and Global Brass and Copper Holdings Inc (NYSE:BRSS). All of these stocks' market caps are closest to NPK's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position URGN,17,171632,5 LION,12,58207,3 NANO,16,101878,-3 BRSS,16,88966,1 Average,15.25,105171,1.5 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 15.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $105 million. That figure was $92 million in NPK's case. UroGen Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ:URGN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Fidelity Southern Corporation (NASDAQ:LION) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. National Presto Industries Inc. (NYSE:NPK) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately NPK wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was quite bearish); NPK investors were disappointed as the stock returned -15.5% during the same time period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (ECHO)
At Insider Monkey we track the activity of some of the best-performing hedge funds like Appaloosa Management, Baupost, and Tiger Global because we determined that some of the stocks that they are collectively bullish on can help us generate returns above the broader indices. Out of thousands of stocks that hedge funds invest in, small-caps can provide the best returns over the long term due to the fact that these companies are less efficiently priced and are usually under the radars of mass-media, analysts and dumb money. This is why we follow the smart money moves in the small-cap space.
Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO)was in 13 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. ECHO has experienced a decrease in hedge fund sentiment lately. There were 15 hedge funds in our database with ECHO holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that ECHO isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
At the moment there are a lot of formulas stock traders have at their disposal to assess stocks. A duo of the most innovative formulas are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a significant margin (see the details here).
We're going to view the new hedge fund action encompassing Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO).
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -13% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards ECHO over the last 15 quarters. With hedgies' sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
Among these funds,Millennium Managementheld the most valuable stake in Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO), which was worth $4.9 million at the end of the first quarter. On the second spot was Renaissance Technologies which amassed $3.1 million worth of shares. Moreover, Citadel Investment Group, Gotham Asset Management, and PDT Partners were also bullish on Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
Because Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO) has faced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it's easy to see that there were a few hedgies that slashed their full holdings in the third quarter. It's worth mentioning that Minhua Zhang'sWeld Capital Managementdumped the largest position of the 700 funds monitored by Insider Monkey, comprising about $0.6 million in stock. David Costen Haley's fund,HBK Investments, also dropped its stock, about $0.4 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds in the third quarter.
Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO). These stocks are Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC), OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSUR), Oasis Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:OMP), and Cass Information Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASS). This group of stocks' market valuations are similar to ECHO's market valuation.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position PFBC,11,41067,0 OSUR,18,107535,-3 OMP,3,4325,0 CASS,11,15276,3 Average,10.75,42051,0 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 10.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $42 million. That figure was $23 million in ECHO's case. OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSUR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Oasis Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:OMP) is the least popular one with only 3 bullish hedge fund positions. Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately ECHO wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on ECHO were disappointed as the stock returned -20.7% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market so far in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About IntriCon Corporation (IIN)
A whopping number of 13F filings filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been processed by Insider Monkey so that individual investors can look at the overall hedge fund sentiment towards the stocks included in their watchlists. These freshly-submitted public filings disclose money managers’ equity positions as of the end of the three-month period that ended March 31, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on IntriCon Corporation (NASDAQ:IIN).
IntriCon Corporation (NASDAQ:IIN)investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months.IINwas in 14 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with IIN positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that IIN isn't among the30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let's check out the latest hedge fund action regarding IntriCon Corporation (NASDAQ:IIN).
Heading into the second quarter of 2019, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 17% from one quarter earlier. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards IIN over the last 15 quarters. With the smart money's capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
More specifically,Endurant Capital Managementwas the largest shareholder of IntriCon Corporation (NASDAQ:IIN), with a stake worth $13.9 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Endurant Capital Management was Citadel Investment Group, which amassed a stake valued at $7.6 million. Marshall Wace LLP, AQR Capital Management, and Renaissance Technologies were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Now, key money managers were leading the bulls' herd.Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, assembled the largest position in IntriCon Corporation (NASDAQ:IIN). Renaissance Technologies had $2.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron'sAlgert Coldiron Investorsalso initiated a $0.6 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new IIN investors: Efrem Kamen'sPura Vida Investments, John Overdeck and David Siegel'sTwo Sigma Advisors, and David Harding'sWinton Capital Management.
Let's go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to IntriCon Corporation (NASDAQ:IIN). We will take a look at LSC Communications, Inc. (NYSE:LKSD), PolyMet Mining Corp. (NYSEAMEX:PLM), Pyxus International, Inc. (NYSE:PYX), and Genie Energy Ltd (NYSE:GNE). This group of stocks' market caps resemble IIN's market cap.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position LKSD,8,12848,0 PLM,2,259,1 PYX,10,17014,4 GNE,9,8601,-2 Average,7.25,9681,0.75 [/table]
View table hereif you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 7.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $10 million. That figure was $40 million in IIN's case. Pyxus International, Inc. (NYSE:PYX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand PolyMet Mining Corp. (NYSEAMEX:PLM) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks IntriCon Corporation (NASDAQ:IIN) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed thattop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. Unfortunately IIN wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on IIN were disappointed as the stock returned -2.9% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out thetop 20 most popular stocksamong hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published atInsider Monkey.
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Trevor Noah Unloads on Trumps Shes Not My Type Rape Defense Against E. Jean Carroll
Comedy Central At the end of his regular Aint Nobody Got Time for That segment Tuesday night, The Daily Show s Trevor Noah said he had to make time for one important news story about President Trump. For the 22nd time, Donald J. Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct, Noah said, referring to the rape allegation from writer E. Jean Carroll. Thats almost one accusation for each Democrat running. The rest of the segment was nearly devoid of jokes as Noah warned against the impetus to brush aside the claims. Sometimes people dont even listen, he said. But 22 times is pretty high. You realize Boeing had two planes go down and they were forced to ground the entire fleet because people were like, maybe we should investigate whats going on here. Im not saying its real and Im not saying its fake, the host clarified. But I do think that people should listen. And he doesnt think Trump is helping his cause with the way he has decided to deny the allegation. Ill say it with great respect: No. 1, shes not my type, the president said this week . No. 2, it never happened. It never happened, OK? Stephen Colbert Sounds Off on E. Jean Carrolls Trump Rape Allegation: Specific, Credible and Terrible Really?! Noah asked as his audience groaned. First of all, thats not great respect. If your denial leaves people thinking there is a type of woman you would rape, thats not a good denial, he continued. And I dont understand how were still struggling with this in society. A womans attractiveness has nothing to do with whether or not they were raped. Nothing at all. But it shows you how out of whack Trumps priorities are. Hes getting accused of rape and his first concern is letting people know what his standards are for women, Noah added, comparing it to someone who is accused of murdering someone at a Holiday Inn and defends themself by saying, I stay at the Ritz-Carlton! The host went on to lament how strange it is that these allegations never seem to have an effect on Donald Trump when so many other men have been taken down due to one credible accusation. Story continues The paradox of Trump, Noah said, is that the outrage over his election helped to inspire the #MeToo movement. But so far, hes the one thats been immune to its effects, he added. And while many people are pushing for Trump to face some consequences, it seems like nobody in Washington has the time for that. Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. |
Calculating The Intrinsic Value Of AVG Logistics Limited (NSE:AVG)
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How far off is AVG Logistics Limited (NSE:AVG) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the foreast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. This is done using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward.
Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of theSimply Wall St analysis model.
See our latest analysis for AVG Logistics
We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Seeing as no analyst estimates of free cash flow are available to us, we have extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the company's last reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.
A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:
[{"": "Levered FCF (\u20b9, Millions)", "2019": "\u20b979.61", "2020": "\u20b984.54", "2021": "\u20b990.12", "2022": "\u20b996.33", "2023": "\u20b9103.15", "2024": "\u20b9110.60", "2025": "\u20b9118.70", "2026": "\u20b9127.48", "2027": "\u20b9136.96", "2028": "\u20b9147.19"}, {"": "Growth Rate Estimate Source", "2019": "Est @ 5.62%", "2020": "Est @ 6.2%", "2021": "Est @ 6.6%", "2022": "Est @ 6.89%", "2023": "Est @ 7.09%", "2024": "Est @ 7.22%", "2025": "Est @ 7.32%", "2026": "Est @ 7.39%", "2027": "Est @ 7.44%", "2028": "Est @ 7.47%"}, {"": "Present Value (\u20b9, Millions) Discounted @ 18.83%", "2019": "\u20b966.99", "2020": "\u20b959.87", "2021": "\u20b953.71", "2022": "\u20b948.32", "2023": "\u20b943.54", "2024": "\u20b939.29", "2025": "\u20b935.49", "2026": "\u20b932.07", "2027": "\u20b929.00", "2028": "\u20b926.23"}]
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF)= ₹434.51m
"Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St
We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 10-year government bond rate (7.6%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 18.8%.
Terminal Value (TV)= FCF2029× (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = ₹147m × (1 + 7.6%) ÷ (18.8% – 7.6%) = ₹1.4b
Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= ₹₹1.4b ÷ ( 1 + 18.8%)10= ₹250.14m
The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is ₹684.65m. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding.This results in an intrinsic value estimate of ₹66.48. Compared to the current share price of ₹78.05, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.
The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at AVG Logistics as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 18.8%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.311. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.
Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldn’t be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For AVG Logistics, I've compiled three further aspects you should further examine:
1. Financial Health: Does AVG have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at ourfree balance sheet analysis with six simple checkson key factors like leverage and risk.
2. Other High Quality Alternatives: Are there other high quality stocks you could be holding instead of AVG? Exploreour interactive list of high quality stocksto get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!
PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every IN stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock justsearch here.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor ateditorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. |
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