The SEC requires hedge funds and wealthy investors with over a certain portfolio size to file a report that shows their positions at the end of every quarter. Even though it isn’t the intention, these filings level the playing field for ordinary investors. The latest round of 13F filings discloses the funds’ positions on September 30. We at Insider Monkey have compiled an extensive database of more than 700 of those elite funds and prominent investors’ filings. In this article, we analyze how these elite funds and prominent investors traded McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) based on those filings.
Is McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) a good investment right now? Prominent investors are buying. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went up by 3 lately. At the end of this article we will also compare MKC to other stocks including Spectra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:SEP), Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV), and Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) to get a better sense of its popularity.
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What does the smart money think about McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 21 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a 17% leap from the previous quarter. There are now nearly 50% more shareholders of MKC among top funds than there were three quarters earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management has the biggest position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC), worth close to $47.6 million. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $19.3 million position. Other members of the smart money that are bullish comprise David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Consequently, key money managers have jumped into McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) headfirst. Select Equity Group, managed by Robert Joseph Caruso, assembled the largest position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC). Select Equity Group had $2.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Citadel Investment Group also initiated a $1.8 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new MKC positions are Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, and George Hall’s Clinton Group.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC). We will take a look at Spectra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:SEP), Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB), and Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to MKC’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEP | 9 | 56399 | -4 |
| FNV | 15 | 418087 | 0 |
| FITB | 24 | 333120 | -3 |
| LRCX | 47 | 2031070 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 23.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $710 million. That figure was $127 million in MKC’s case. Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Spectra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:SEP) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard LRCX might be a better candidate to consider a long position in.
Disclosure: None
