Hedge Funds Are Selling Genworth Financial Inc (GNW)

Because Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW) has witnessed falling interest from hedge fund managers, we can see that there exists a select few hedgies that slashed their positions entirely heading into Q4. Intriguingly, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies sold off the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds monitored by Insider Monkey, totaling an estimated $18.9 million in stock. Gifford Combs’s fund, Dalton Investments, also cut its stock, about $15.1 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 9 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Essent Group Ltd (NYSE:ESNT), BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE:BXS), Valley National Bancorp (NYSE:VLY), and CEB Inc (NYSE:CEB). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble GNW’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 14 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $143 million, compared to the $232 million figure in GNW’s case. Essent Group Ltd (NYSE:ESNT) is the most popular stock in this table with 21 funds holding shares, while BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE:BXS) is the least popular one. Compared to these stocks, Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW) 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.