Is Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (CASY) a Good Buy?

Most investors tend to think that hedge funds and other asset managers are worthless, as they cannot beat even simple index fund portfolios. In fact, most people expect hedge funds to compete with and outperform the bull market that we have witnessed over the past few years. However, hedge funds are generally partially hedged and aim at delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns rather than following the ups and downs of equity markets hoping that they will outperform the broader market. Our research shows that hedge funds do have great stock picking skills, so let’s take a glance at the smart money sentiment towards Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY).

Is Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) a healthy stock for your portfolio? The smart money is in an optimistic mood. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went up by 7 recently. 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 Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI), Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ICPT), and Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:ZBRA) to gather more data points.

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a peek at the fresh action encompassing Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY).

Hedge fund activity in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Heading into Q4, a total of 21 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 50% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Hitchwood Capital Management, managed by James Crichton, holds the biggest position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY). Hitchwood Capital Management has a $51.5 million position in the stock, comprising 1.8% of its 13F portfolio. On Hitchwood Capital Management’s heels is Melvin Capital Management, led by Gabriel Plotkin, holding a $30.9 million position; the fund has 1.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers with similar optimism include Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management and Lee Munder’s Lee Munder Capital Group.