The latest 13F reporting period has come and gone, and Insider Monkey is again at the forefront when it comes to making use of this gold mine of data. We have processed the filings of the more than 873 world-class investment firms that we track and now have access to the collective wisdom contained in these filings, which are based on their June 30th holdings, data that is available nowhere else. Should you consider TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) for your portfolio? We’ll look to this invaluable collective wisdom for the answer.
Is TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) a marvelous investment now? The best stock pickers were getting more optimistic. The number of long hedge fund bets went up by 4 recently. TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of June. The all time high for this statistic is 12. Our calculations also showed that TCBK isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q2 rankings).
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that a select group of hedge fund holdings outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by 79 percentage points since March 2017 (see the details here). That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Matthew Lindenbaum of Basswood Capital
At Insider Monkey, we scour multiple sources to uncover the next great investment idea. We go through lists like the 10 best EV stocks to pick the next Tesla that will deliver a 10x return. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our homepage. Now we’re going to take a gander at the fresh hedge fund action regarding TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK).
Do Hedge Funds Think TCBK Is A Good Stock To Buy Now?
At the end of the second quarter, a total of 10 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 67% from one quarter earlier. On the other hand, there were a total of 11 hedge funds with a bullish position in TCBK a year ago. So, let’s review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds, Renaissance Technologies held the most valuable stake in TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK), which was worth $14.6 million at the end of the second quarter. On the second spot was Basswood Capital which amassed $5.9 million worth of shares. Millennium Management, Citadel Investment Group, and Two Sigma Advisors were also very fond of the stock, becoming one of the largest hedge fund holders of the company. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Basswood Capital allocated the biggest weight to TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK), around 0.25% of its 13F portfolio. Winton Capital Management is also relatively very bullish on the stock, designating 0.03 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to TCBK.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, created the most outsized position in TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK). Millennium Management had $5.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Michael Gelband’s ExodusPoint Capital also made a $0.9 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new TCBK position is Donald Sussman’s Paloma Partners.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) but similarly valued. These stocks are Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ:ZUMZ), US Concrete Inc (NASDAQ:USCR), Enova International Inc (NYSE:ENVA), SilverCrest Metals Inc. (NYSE:SILV), Corecivic Inc. (NYSE:CXW), Customers Bancorp Inc (NYSE:CUBI), and LeMaitre Vascular Inc (NASDAQ:LMAT). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to TCBK’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZUMZ | 18 | 61156 | -2 |
| USCR | 19 | 144291 | 13 |
| ENVA | 22 | 252218 | 1 |
| SILV | 14 | 121376 | 4 |
| CXW | 13 | 97190 | -5 |
| CUBI | 17 | 79514 | 2 |
| LMAT | 10 | 13097 | 0 |
| Average | 16.1 | 109835 | 1.9 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 16.1 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $110 million. That figure was $37 million in TCBK’s case. Enova International Inc (NYSE:ENVA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand LeMaitre Vascular Inc (NASDAQ:LMAT) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) is even less popular than LMAT. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for TCBK is 34. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. Our calculations showed that top 5 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 95.8% in 2019 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 40 percentage points. These stocks gained 25.7% in 2021 through September 27th but managed to beat the market by 6.2 percentage points. A small number of hedge funds were also right about betting on TCBK, though not to the same extent, as the stock returned 4.1% since the end of June (through September 27th) and outperformed the market as well.
Follow Trico Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK)
Follow Trico Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK)
Suggested Articles:
- 10 Companies that Benefit From Crypto Mining
- 10 Best ASX Stocks to Buy Now
- 11 Best Lithium and Battery Stocks To Buy
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
