It seems that the masses and most of the financial media hate hedge funds and what they do, but why is this hatred of hedge funds so prominent? At the end of the day, these asset management firms do not gamble the hard-earned money of the people who are on the edge of poverty. Truth be told, most hedge fund managers and other smaller players within this industry are very smart and skilled investors. Of course, they may also make wrong bets in some instances, but no one knows what the future holds and how market participants will react to the bountiful news that floods in each day. The S&P 500 Index gained 7.6% in the 12 month-period that ended November 21, while less than 49% of its stocks beat the benchmark. In contrast, the 30 most popular mid-cap stocks among the top hedge fund investors tracked by the Insider Monkey team returned 18% over the same period, which provides evidence that these money managers do have great stock picking abilities. That’s why we believe it isn’t a waste of time to check out hedge fund sentiment before you invest in a stock like Mine Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) .
Mine Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) investors should pay attention to an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with MSA 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 Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ:ALGT), Sanderson Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFM), and Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GBCI) to gather more data points.
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With all of this in mind, let’s take a peek at the fresh action encompassing Mine Safety Appliances (NYSE:MSA).
How have hedgies been trading Mine Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)?
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2016, a total of 10 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 11% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards MSA over the last 5 quarters. So, let’s review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates holds the most valuable position in Mine Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA). Royce & Associates has a $12.8 million position in the stock. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group which holds a $1.7 million position. Other peers that hold long positions encompass Peter Muller’s PDT Partners, Roger Ibbotson’s Zebra Capital Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, one of the biggest hedge funds in the world. 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-microcap stocks.
Consequently, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Joel Greenblatt of Gotham Asset Management initiated the largest position in Mine Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA). Gotham Asset Management had $0.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management also initiated a $0 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new MSA investors: Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital and PEAK6 Capital Management.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Mine Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ:ALGT), Sanderson Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFM), Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GBCI), and Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE:OMI). All of these stocks’ market caps are closest to MSA’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALGT | 21 | 225333 | 3 |
| SAFM | 21 | 202162 | 4 |
| GBCI | 5 | 94491 | -1 |
| OMI | 13 | 128694 | -3 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 15 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $163 million. That figure was $18 million in MSA’s case. Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ:ALGT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GBCI) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Mine Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. MSA has been a strong performer this year and several hedge funds sold out of the stock too early at the end of last year. Usually they jump back in after a stock shows some momentum, but this hasn’t been the case with MSA. Given the stock’s forward P/E multiple of 21, we’d also be more inclined to look elsewhere for value.
Disclosure: None
