Is Pinnacle Foods Inc (NYSE:PF) 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.
Is Pinnacle Foods Inc (NYSE:PF) a bargain? The best stock pickers are becoming hopeful. The number of long hedge fund positions increased by 5 lately. PF was in 37 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 32 hedge funds in our database with PF holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare PF to other stocks including Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR), and National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN) to get a better sense of its popularity.
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Follow Pinnacle Foods Inc.
To most stock holders, hedge funds are assumed to be worthless, old financial vehicles of years past. While there are over 8000 funds trading at present, Our experts look at the top tier of this group, about 700 funds. These hedge fund managers preside over the majority of the smart money’s total asset base, and by tracking their unrivaled equity investments, Insider Monkey has formulated several investment strategies that have historically defeated Mr. Market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy exceeded the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points per year for a decade in their back tests.
Keeping this in mind, let’s go over the key action regarding Pinnacle Foods Inc (NYSE:PF).
How have hedgies been trading Pinnacle Foods Inc (NYSE:PF)?
At the Q3’s end, a total of 37 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 16% from the second quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Soroban Capital Partners, managed by Eric W. Mandelblatt, holds the biggest position in Pinnacle Foods Inc (NYSE:PF). Soroban Capital Partners has a $225.8 million position in the stock, comprising 1.6% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Levin Capital Strategies, led by John A. Levin, holding a $174.6 million position; the fund has 3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors that are bullish encompass Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
As industrywide interest jumped, some big names have jumped into Pinnacle Foods Inc (NYSE:PF) headfirst. Maverick Capital, managed by Lee Ainslie, established the most outsized position in Pinnacle Foods Inc (NYSE:PF). Maverick Capital had $154.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors also made a $16.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new PF positions are Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management, and Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Pinnacle Foods Inc (NYSE:PF). We will take a look at Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR), National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN), and People’s United Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBCT). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to PF’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHK | 34 | 1211147 | 1 |
| RNR | 19 | 344999 | -7 |
| NNN | 16 | 197330 | -1 |
| PBCT | 10 | 55674 | -2 |
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 $452 million, compared to $1.11 billion in PF’s case. Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) is the most popular stock in this table, with 34 funds reporting stakes. On the other hand, People’s United Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBCT) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Pinnacle Foods Inc (NYSE:PF) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially acquire shares for your portfolio.
