Hedge Funds Are Bearing With Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG)

The 700+ hedge funds and money managers tracked by Insider Monkey have already compiled and submitted their 13F filings for the third quarter, which unveil their equity positions as of September 30. We went through these filings, fixed typos and other more significant errors and identified the changes in hedge fund positions. Our extensive review of these public filings is finally over, so this article is set to reveal the smart money sentiment towards Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG).

Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG) has seen a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately. FIG was in 21 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2016. There were 23 hedge funds in our database with FIG 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 Acxiom Corporation (NASDAQ:ACXM), Monogram Residential Trust Inc (NYSE:MORE), and WPP PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:WPPGY) to gather more data points.

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What have hedge funds been doing with Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG)?

At Q3’s end, a total of 21 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a 9% drop from the previous quarter. Hedge fund ownership has remained largely stable this year after FIG struggled mightily in the second-half of last year. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Michael Barnes and Arif Inayatullah’s Tricadia Capital Management has the largest position in Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG), worth close to $21.8 million, accounting for 6% of its total 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Ric Dillon of Diamond Hill Capital, with a $20.2 million position. Remaining members of the smart money that hold long positions comprise Jody LaNasa’s Serengeti Asset Management, Brian Gaines’ Springhouse Capital Management and James Dondero’s Highland Capital Management.

Because Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG) has experienced a decline in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there is a sect of hedge funds that slashed their positions entirely in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP dropped the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds watched by Insider Monkey, valued at close to $0.4 million in stock. Youlia Miteva’s fund, Proxima Capital Management, also said goodbye to its stock, about $0.3 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Acxiom Corporation (NASDAQ:ACXM), Monogram Residential Trust Inc (NYSE:MORE), WPP PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:WPPGY), and Revlon Inc (NYSE:REV). This group of stocks’ market values match FIG’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 11.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $97 million. That figure was $100 million in FIG’s case. Acxiom Corporation (NASDAQ:ACXM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Revlon Inc (NYSE:REV) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG) 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.

Disclosure: None