Hedge Funds Getting Bullish On Vishay Intertechnology (VSH)

We at Insider Monkey have gone over 821 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the SEC The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of March 31st, near the height of the coronavirus market crash. In this article, we look at what those funds think of Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH) based on that data.

Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH) has experienced an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately. VSH was in 23 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2020. There were 20 hedge funds in our database with VSH holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that VSH isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q1 rankings and see the video for a quick look at the top 5 stocks).

Video: Watch our video about the top 5 most popular hedge fund stocks.

Hedge funds’ reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn’t keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 58 percentage points since March 2017 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that’ll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 36% through May 18th. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.

At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example, 2020’s unprecedented market conditions provide us with the highest number of trading opportunities in a decade. So we are checking out trades like this one. We interview hedge fund managers and ask them about their best ideas. If you want to find out the best healthcare stock to buy right now, you can watch our latest hedge fund manager interview here. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. Our best call in 2020 was shorting the market when the S&P 500 was trading at 3150 after realizing the coronavirus pandemic’s significance before most investors. With all of this in mind let’s take a gander at the key hedge fund action regarding Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH).

How have hedgies been trading Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 23 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 15% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards VSH over the last 18 quarters. So, let’s find out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.

The largest stake in Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH) was held by AQR Capital Management, which reported holding $70.1 million worth of stock at the end of September. It was followed by Fisher Asset Management with a $59.9 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Lynrock Lake, Royce & Associates, and Woodline Partners. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Lynrock Lake allocated the biggest weight to Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH), around 4.98% of its 13F portfolio. Mountaineer Partners Management is also relatively very bullish on the stock, designating 3.38 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to VSH.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Lynrock Lake, managed by Cynthia Paul, created the most outsized position in Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH). Lynrock Lake had $50.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Michael Rockefeller and KarláKroeker’s Woodline Partners also initiated a $10.7 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new VSH investors: Ian Simm’s Impax Asset Management, Tim Curro’s Value Holdings LP, and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC), Diodes Incorporated (NASDAQ:DIOD), DouYu International Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:DOYU), and Sterling Bancorp (NYSE:STL). This group of stocks’ market values resemble VSH’s market value.

View table here if you experience formatting issues.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 14.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $65 million. That figure was $267 million in VSH’s case. Sterling Bancorp (NYSE:STL) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH) 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. Our calculations showed that top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 41.4% in 2019 and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 10.1 percentage points. These stocks gained 13.9% in 2020 through June 10th but beat the market by 14.2 percentage points. Unfortunately VSH wasn’t nearly as popular as these 10 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on VSH were disappointed as the stock returned 15.5% during the same time period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds as many of these stocks already outperformed the market so far this year.

Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.