Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR) is 5.54% in the green today after it announced that it will acquire HandStands Holding Corporation for $340 Million. HandStands Holding is a leading brand in the automotive fragrance and appearance sectors, and the deal will be accretive to Energizer’s EBITDA margins, adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow in the first full fiscal year, when excluding one-time costs. Specifically, Energizer Holdings Inc (NYSE:ENR) management expects the acquisition to increase EPS by $0.15-to-$0.20 per share and to increase free cash flow by $20 million. The acquisition will also further diversify the company’s products, which primarily consist of batteries, flashlights, and personal care products.
Is Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR) a worthy investment right now? Money managers are getting more bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went up by 2 in recent months. ENR was in 23 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of March. There were 21 hedge funds in our database with ENR 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 Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MDRX), QEP Resources Inc (NYSE:QEP), and Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:IART) to gather more data points.
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According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Adage Capital Management, managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, holds the most valuable position in Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR). Adage Capital Management has a $28.3 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Gotham Asset Management, managed by Joel Greenblatt, which holds a $25 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, David Charney and Sky Wilber’s Foundation Asset Management and Ram Seshan Venkateswaran’s Vernier Capital.
On the next page we’ll look at some funds that took up positions in Energizer during Q1, as well as compare the stock to a handful of others with similar market caps.
With general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names have jumped into Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR) headfirst. Vernier Capital assembled the largest position in Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR). Vernier Capital had $11.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also initiated a $9.6 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new ENR investors: John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Michael Platt and William Reeves’ BlueCrest Capital Mgmt, and Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR). These stocks are Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MDRX), QEP Resources Inc (NYSE:QEP), Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:IART), and Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE:OFC). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to ENR’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| MDRX | 24 | 677077 | 1 |
| QEP | 30 | 380280 | 3 |
| IART | 16 | 158180 | 1 |
| OFC | 13 | 55726 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 21 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $318 million. That figure was $238 million in ENR’s case. QEP Resources Inc (NYSE:QEP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE:OFC) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR) 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 QEP might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
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