Ascena Retail Group Inc (ASNA): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

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As we already know from media reports and hedge fund investor letters, many hedge funds lost money in the third quarter, blaming macroeconomic conditions and unpredictable events that hit several sectors, with healthcare among them. Nevertheless, most investors decided to stick to their bullish theses and their long-term focus allows us to profit from the recent declines. In particular, let’s take a look at what hedge funds think about Ascena Retail Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASNA) in this article.

Ascena Retail Group Inc was in 23 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. ASNA investors should pay attention to a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months. There were 25 hedge funds in our database with ASNA positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare ASNA to other stocks including Crane Co. (NYSE:CR), Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE:THO), and First Citizens BancShares Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) to get a better sense of its popularity.

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To most stock holders, hedge funds are perceived as underperforming, old investment tools of years past. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open today, Our experts look at the crème de la crème of this group, around 700 funds. These hedge fund managers administer bulk of the smart money’s total asset base, and by following their first-class equity investments, Insider Monkey has come up with a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outrun the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points per annum for a decade in their back tests.

Now, let’s go over the fresh action encompassing Ascena Retail Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASNA).

What have hedge funds been doing with Ascena Retail Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASNA)?

At Q3’s end, a total of 23 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -8% from the second quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Alexander Medina Seaver’s Stadium Capital Management has the biggest position in Ascena Retail Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASNA), worth close to $109.9 million, corresponding to 40.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Royce & Associates, led by Chuck Royce, holding a $52.9 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism include Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and Christopher Shackelton and Adam Gray’s Coliseum Capital.

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