Reputable billionaire investors such as Nelson Peltz and David Tepper generate exorbitant profits for their wealthy accredited investors (a minimum of $1 million in investable assets would be required to invest in a hedge fund and most successful hedge funds won’t accept your savings unless you commit at least $5 million) by pinpointing winning small-cap stocks. There is little or no publicly-available information at all on some of these small companies, which makes it hard for an individual investor to pin down a winner within the small-cap space. However, hedge funds and other big asset managers can do the due diligence and analysis for you instead, thanks to their highly-skilled research teams and vast resources to conduct an appropriate evaluation process. Looking for potential winners within the small-cap galaxy of stocks? We believe following the smart money is a good starting point.
Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO) investors should be aware of an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately. Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO) was in 16 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO) holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article, we will also compare Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO) to other stocks, including WP Glimcher Inc (NYSE:WPG), and National Health Investors Inc (NYSE:NHI) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Monro Inc. (NASDAQ:MNRO)
Follow Monro Inc. (NASDAQ:MNRO)
In the financial world, there are a large number of tools that stock traders can use to grade their stock investments. Some of the most underrated tools are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outpace the market by a solid amount (see the details here).
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to analyze the key action surrounding Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO).
What have hedge funds been doing with Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 16 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, an increase of 45% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Charles Akre’s Akre Capital Management has the biggest position in Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO), worth close to $101.9 million, comprising 2.4% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Daruma Asset Management, led by Mariko Gordon, holding a $52.8 million position; 3.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other members of the smart money that are bullish contain Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider’s SG Capital Management, and Legg Mason Capital Management.
As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Buckingham Capital Management, managed by David Keidan, assembled the most outsized position in Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO). Buckingham Capital Management had $7.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management also made a $4.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new MNRO investors: Mark Coe’s Coe Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Peter Muller’s PDT Partners.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO) but similarly valued. We will take a look at WP Glimcher Inc (NYSE:WPG), National Health Investors Inc (NYSE:NHI), and Kosmos Energy Ltd (NYSE:KOS). This group of stocks’ market caps is closer to Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO)’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| WPG | 16 | 99115 | -3 |
| NHI | 12 | 71580 | 4 |
| KOS | 9 | 98311 | -8 |
As you can see, these stocks had an average of 12 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $90 million. That figure was $266 million in Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO)’s case. WP Glimcher Inc (NYSE:WPG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Kosmos Energy Ltd (NYSE:KOS) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO) 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. In this regard, WP Glimcher Inc (NYSE:WPG) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
