Hedge Funds Are Selling Genworth Financial Inc (GNW)

Insider Monkey finished processing more than 700 13F filings made by hedge funds and prominent investors. These filings show these funds’ portfolio positions as of September 30. What do these smart investors think about Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW)?

Is Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW) worth your attention right now? The smart money is reducing their bets on the stock. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went down by 9 recently. GNW was in 28 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 37 hedge funds in our database with GNW 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 Essent Group Ltd (NYSE:ESNT), BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE:BXS), and Valley National Bancorp (NYSE:VLY) to gather more data points.

In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are assumed to be unimportant, old investment vehicles of the past. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at present, Our researchers hone in on the crème de la crème of this club, around 700 funds. These investment experts preside over most of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by keeping track of their best stock picks, Insider Monkey has formulated numerous investment strategies that have historically outperformed Mr. Market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points a year for a decade in their back tests.

With all of this in mind, let’s take a glance at the recent action surrounding Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW).

How have hedgies been trading Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW)?

Heading into Q4, a total of 28 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -24% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Legg Mason Capital Management has the largest position in Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW), worth close to $43.1 million, accounting for 0.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Pzena Investment Management, managed by Richard S. Pzena, which holds a $35.3 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions consist of Christopher Pucillo’s Solus Alternative Asset Management, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and Zac Hirzel’s Hirzel Capital Management.

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.