Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSM)

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Judging by the fact that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) has encountered no change in interest from the smart money, it’s important to take a look at a select few money managers who sold off their positions entirely last quarter. Intriguingly, Gregg Moskowitz’s Interval Partners got rid of the largest stake of the 700 funds tracked by Insider Monkey, comprising an estimated $35.5 million in stock. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also said goodbye to its stock, about $35.3 million worth of WSM shares.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Tahoe Resources Inc (NYSE:TAHO), Tesoro Logistics LP (NYSE:TLLP), Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH), and Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH). This group of stocks’ market valuations match WSM’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
TAHO 20 104692 2
TLLP 6 24745 -3
MANH 16 205073 -5
CBSH 8 61038 2

As you can see these stocks had an average of 13 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $99 million. That figure was $459 million in WSM’s case. Tahoe Resources Inc (NYSE:TAHO) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Tesoro Logistics LP (NYSE:TLLP) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) 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 TAHO might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: none.

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