Hedge Funds and other institutional investors have just completed filing their 13Fs with the Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing their equity portfolios as of the end of September. At Insider Monkey, we follow over 700 of the best-performing investors and by analyzing their 13F filings, we can determine the stocks that they are collectively bullish on. One of their picks is Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE:ORI), so let’s take a closer look at the sentiment that surrounds it in the current quarter.
Is Old Republic International Corporation the right investment to pursue these days? Hedge funds are betting on the stock. The number of long hedge fund bets went up by 5 recently. ORI was in 21 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 16 hedge funds in our database with ORI holdings at the end of the previous quarter. 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 Juno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JUNO), United Microelectronics Corp (ADR) (NYSE:UMC), and Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU) to gather more data points.
Follow Old Republic International Corp (NYSE:ORI)
Follow Old Republic International Corp (NYSE:ORI)
In today’s marketplace there are many gauges stock traders can use to grade their stock investments. A couple of the less known gauges are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best investment managers can beat the broader indices by a very impressive margin (see the details here).
With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a look at the fresh action surrounding Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE:ORI).
How are hedge funds trading Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE:ORI)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 21 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 31% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Lee Ainslie’s Maverick Capital has the number one position in Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE:ORI), worth close to $80.5 million, amounting to 1.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which holds a $24.4 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
As one would reasonably expect, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, initiated the biggest position in Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE:ORI). Arrowstreet Capital had $5.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management also made a $2.9 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management, and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE:ORI). We will take a look at Juno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JUNO), United Microelectronics Corp (ADR) (NYSE:UMC), Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU), and Biomed Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:BMR). All of these stocks’ market caps are closest to ORI’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| JUNO | 14 | 27613 | -13 |
| UMC | 9 | 19404 | -2 |
| CCU | 8 | 227386 | 2 |
| BMR | 17 | 223498 | 6 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 12 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $124 million. That figure was $173 million in ORI’s case. Biomed Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:BMR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE:ORI), with 21 bullish hedge fund positions, 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 include it in your portfolio.
