Our extensive research has shown that imitating the smart money can generate significant returns for retail investors, which is why we track more than 700 prominent money managers and analyze their quarterly 13F filings. The stocks that are heavily bought by hedge funds historically outperformed the market, though there is no shortage of high profile gigantic failures like hedge funds’ recent losses in Valeant. Let’s take a closer look at what the funds we track think about AMAYA INC (NASDAQ:AYA) in this article.
Is AMAYA INC (NASDAQ:AYA) a marvelous stock to buy? Investors who are in the know are reducing their bets on it. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went down by 1 recently. AYA was in 18 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 19 hedge funds in our database with AYA positions 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 Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG), Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR), and Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD) to gather more data points.
According to most shareholders, hedge funds are assumed to be slow, old investment tools of yesteryear. While there are more than 8,000 funds with their doors open at present, our researchers choose to focus on the top tier of this club, approximately 700 funds. It is estimated that this group of investors shepherd the majority of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by keeping track of their inimitable stock picks, Insider Monkey has identified a few investment strategies that have historically outpaced the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy exceeded the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points annually for a decade in their back tests.
With all of this in mind, let’s go over the key action encompassing AMAYA INC (NASDAQ:AYA).
What have hedge funds been doing with AMAYA INC (NASDAQ:AYA)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a 5% dip from the second quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably (or had already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Zach Schreiber’s Point State Capital has the biggest position in AMAYA INC (NASDAQ:AYA), worth close to $211.1 million, amounting to 5.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting in the No. 2 spot is TPG-AXON Management LP, managed by Dinakar Singh, which holds a $92.7 million position; 7.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other professional money managers that hold long positions contain Thomas E. Claugus’ GMT Capital, Daniel Lewis’ Orange Capital, and Andrew Feldstein and Stephen Siderow’s Blue Mountain Capital.
Due to the fact that AMAYA INC (NASDAQ:AYA) has witnessed falling interest from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few hedgies who sold off their entire stakes by the end of the third quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Kevin D. Eng’s Columbus Hill Capital Management dumped the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, totaling an estimated $15.8 million in stock. Curtis Schenker and Craig Effron’s fund, Scoggin, also cut its stock, about $10 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 fund by the end of the third quarter.
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to AMAYA INC (NASDAQ:AYA). These stocks are Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG), Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR), Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD), and Proofpoint Inc (NASDAQ:PFPT). This group of stocks’ market values match AYA’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| HCSG | 5 | 22638 | -2 |
| ENR | 23 | 335594 | -8 |
| SHLD | 22 | 1677334 | -4 |
| PFPT | 21 | 269268 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 18 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $576 million. That figure was $663 million in AYA’s case. Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. AMAYA INC (NASDAQ:AYA) 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 ENR, SHLD, and PFPT might be better candidates to consider long positions in.
