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Bonanza Creek Energy Inc (NYSE:BCEI) has seen a decrease in support from the world’s most successful money managers lately. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with BCEI holdings at the end of the second quarter, 4 more than there were a quarter later. 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 hhgregg, Inc. (NYSE:HGG), Repros Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RPRX), and Jason Industries Inc (NASDAQ:JASN) to gather more data points.
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Hedge fund activity in Bonanza Creek Energy Inc (NYSE:BCEI)
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 8 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a 33% tumble from one quarter earlier. There were a total of 12 hedge funds with a bullish position in BCEI at the beginning of this year, and sentiment was flat during the first half of 2016. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Fir Tree has the number one position in Bonanza Creek Energy Inc (NYSE:BCEI), worth close to $2.1 million. The second most bullish fund manager is Debra Fine’s Fine Capital Partners, which holds a $1.2 million call position. Some other hedge funds and institutional investors that are bullish consist of Neil Chriss’ Hutchin Hill Capital, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group. We should note that none of these hedge funds are among our list of the 100 best performing hedge funds, which is based on the performance of their 13F long positions in non-micro-cap stocks.
Due to the fact that Bonanza Creek Energy Inc (NYSE:BCEI) has witnessed falling interest from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few money managers who were dropping their full holdings by the end of the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk’s GRT Capital Partners dumped the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, worth close to $3.5 million in stock. Citadel Investment Group also dropped its stock, about $1.3 million worth.
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Bonanza Creek Energy Inc (NYSE:BCEI). We will take a look at hhgregg, Inc. (NYSE:HGG), Repros Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RPRX), Jason Industries Inc (NASDAQ:JASN), and TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd (NYSEAMEX:TAT). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to BCEI’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| HGG | 3 | 1567 | 1 |
| RPRX | 2 | 1436 | 0 |
| JASN | 11 | 19165 | 1 |
| TAT | 4 | 5827 | -1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $7 million. That figure was $5 million in BCEI’s case. Jason Industries Inc (NASDAQ:JASN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Repros Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RPRX) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Bonanza Creek Energy Inc (NYSE:BCEI) 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 JASN might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.
Disclosure: None
