Is CVB Financial Corp. (CVBF) A Good Stock To Buy?

While the market driven by short-term sentiment influenced by uncertainty regarding the future of the interest rate environment in the US, the low commodity prices and the economic turmoil in China, many smart money investors are keeping their optimism regarding the current bull run, while still hedging many of their long positions. However, as we know, big investors usually buy stocks with strong fundamentals, which is why we believe we can profit from imitating them. In this article, we are going to take a look at the smart money sentiment surrounding CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF).

CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF) shares haven’t seen a lot of action during the third quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged. The stock was in 5 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. It might be interpreted as a good news considering that the shares of CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF) were down 5.17% during the quarter. The declining stock value had no impact on hedge fund positions, although there is no valid proof of its role in the overall hedge fund sentiment.  We will cover hedge funds that held stakes in CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF) at the end of the third 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 Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI), Matador Resources Co (NYSE:MTDR), and Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK) to gather more data points.

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Today, there are a large number of indicators investors employ to assess their holdings. Some of the less utilized indicators are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a significant amount (see the details here).

Now, let’s analyze the new action encompassing CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF).

Hedge fund activity in CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF)

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 5 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, unchanged from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group has the biggest position in CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF), worth close to $4.5 million, amounting to less than 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management, with a $3.3 million position; less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that are bullish consist of Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, and D E Shaw.

We view hedge fund activity in the stock unfavorable, but in this case there was only a single hedge fund selling its entire position: PEAK6 Capital Management. One hedge fund selling its entire position doesn’t always imply a bearish intent. Theoretically, a hedge fund may decide to sell a promising position in order to invest the proceeds in a more promising idea. However, we don’t think this is the case here because only one of the 700+ hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey identified as a viable investment and initiated a position in the stock (that fund was Fisher Asset Management).

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI), Matador Resources Co (NYSE:MTDR), Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK), and Chimerix Inc (NASDAQ:CMRX). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF)’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
SIGI 19 44085 3
MTDR 10 44780 -3
DK 30 513168 6
CMRX 17 206603 -4

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 19 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $202 million. That figure was $11 million in CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF)’s case. Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Matador Resources Co (NYSE:MTDR) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF) is even less popular than Matador Resources Co (NYSE:MTDR). Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case, more research is warranted.