Is MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ) a good place to invest some of your money right now? We can gain invaluable insight to help us answer that question by studying the investment trends of top investors, who employ world-class Ivy League graduates, who are given immense resources and industry contacts to put their financial expertise to work. The top picks of these firms have historically outperformed the market when we account for known risk factors, making them very valuable investment ideas.
Hedge fund interest in MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ) 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 Viavi Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:VIAV), Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL), and Archrock Inc (NYSE:AROC) to gather more data points.
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With all of this in mind, let’s analyze the latest action encompassing MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ).
How have hedgies been trading MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 22 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Peconic Partners LLC, managed by William Harnisch, holds the number one position in MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ). Peconic Partners LLC has a $65.1 million position in the stock, comprising 10.6% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Dmitry Balyasny of Balyasny Asset Management, with a $42.5 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other members of the smart money that are bullish consist of Thomas Ellis and Todd Hammer’s North Run Capital, John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.
Intriguingly, Curtis Schenker and Craig Effron’s Scoggin sold off the biggest stake of the 700 funds watched by Insider Monkey, totaling close to $21.5 million in stock. Brian Jackelow’s fund, SAB Capital Management, also dropped its stock, about $13.4 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate 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 – not necessarily in the same industry as MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Viavi Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:VIAV), Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL), Archrock Inc (NYSE:AROC), and KB Home (NYSE:KBH). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to MTZ’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| VIAV | 19 | 229201 | -4 |
| EXEL | 12 | 40209 | 2 |
| EXH | 26 | 405310 | -5 |
| KBH | 19 | 329236 | -6 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 19 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $251 million. That figure was $228 million in MTZ’s case. Archrock Inc (NYSE:AROC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ) 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 EXH might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
