Hedge Funds Are Buying Brookfield Total Return Fund Inc (HTR)

We at Insider Monkey have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the government. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article we look at what those investors think of Brookfield Total Return Fund Inc (NYSE:HTR).

Is Brookfield Total Return Fund Inc (NYSE:HTR) the right investment to pursue these days? Investors who are in the know are becoming hopeful. The number of long hedge fund bets inched up by 2 in recent months. 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 JTH Holding Inc (NASDAQ:TAX), Insteel Industries Inc (NASDAQ:IIIN), and Jones Energy Inc (NYSE:JONE) to gather more data points.

Follow Brookfield Total Return Fund Inc (NYSE:HTR)

At the moment there are tons of methods investors employ to value their holdings. A couple of the less utilized methods are hedge fund and insider trading signals. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a superb margin (see the details here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a glance at the recent action regarding Brookfield Total Return Fund Inc (NYSE:HTR).

How have hedgies been trading Brookfield Total Return Fund Inc (NYSE:HTR)?

At Q3’s end, a total of 4 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, double the number at the end of the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).

According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Saba Capital, managed by Boaz Weinstein, holds the number one position in Brookfield Total Return Fund Inc (NYSE:HTR). The fund reportedly holds a $1.8 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Mariner Investment Group, led by William Michaelcheck, holding a $1.2 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions include Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management, Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners and .

Consequently, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Laurion Capital Management, managed by Benjamin A. Smith, assembled the biggest position in Brookfield Total Return Fund Inc (NYSE:HTR). The fund had $0.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners also initiated a $0.1 million position during the quarter.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Brookfield Total Return Fund Inc (NYSE:HTR) but similarly valued. These stocks are JTH Holding Inc (NASDAQ:TAX), Insteel Industries Inc (NASDAQ:IIIN), Jones Energy Inc (NYSE:JONE), and Aratana Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PETX). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to HTR’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
TAX 6 49656 0
IIIN 12 38164 0
JONE 4 24402 -3
PETX 13 42579 0

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 $39 million. That figure was a minor $4 million in HTR’s case. Aratana Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PETX) is the most popular stock in this table, while Jones Energy Inc (NYSE:JONE) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Brookfield Total Return Fund Inc (NYSE:HTR) is even less popular than JONE. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.