Fossil Group Inc (FOSL): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

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Because Fossil Group Inc (NASDAQ:FOSL) has faced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers that elected to cut their full holdings by the end of the third quarter. Interestingly, Larry Robbins’ Glenview Capital sold off the biggest position of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, valued at an estimated $61.4 million in stock, and Michael Doheny’s Freshford Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $12.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds by the end of the third quarter.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Fossil Group Inc (NASDAQ:FOSL). These stocks are Communications Sales & Leasing Inc (NASDAQ:CSAL), Central Fund of Canada Limited (USA) (NYSEAMEX:CEF), Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT), and PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to FOSL’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
CSAL 13 124563 -2
CEF 4 11351 1
VRNT 36 331091 3
PBF 27 783666 -5

As you can see these stocks had an average of 20 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $313 million. That figure was $473 million in FOSL’s case. Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Central Fund of Canada Limited (USA) (NYSEAMEX:CEF) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Fossil Group Inc (NASDAQ:FOSL) 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 VRNT might be a better candidate to consider a long position.

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