What Do Hedge Funds Think of Visteon Corp (VC)?

Insider Monkey finished processing more than 700 13F filings made by hedge funds and prominent investors. These filings show these funds’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article we are going to take a look at smart money sentiment towards Visteon Corp (NYSE:VC).

Visteon Corp (NYSE:VC) has seen a decrease in hedge fund interest in recent months. VC was in 56 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 57 hedge funds in our database with VC 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 Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE:ORI), Juno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JUNO), and United Microelectronics Corp (ADR) (NYSE:UMC) to gather more data points.

Follow Visteon Corp (NYSE:VC)

In the financial world there are a large number of gauges shareholders have at their disposal to grade publicly traded companies. A couple of the most underrated gauges are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a significant amount (see the details here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s view the key action regarding Visteon Corp (NYSE:VC).

Hedge fund activity in Visteon Corp (NYSE:VC)

Heading into Q4, a total of 56 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of -2% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Solus Alternative Asset Management, managed by Christopher Pucillo, holds the number one position in Visteon Corp (NYSE:VC). Solus Alternative Asset Management has a $252.8 million position in the stock, comprising 37.9% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Iridian Asset Management, led by David Cohen and Harold Levy, holding a $209.2 million position; the fund has 1.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining members of the smart money that hold long positions comprise Thomas Ellis and Todd Hammer’s North Run Capital, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management.

Due to the fact that Visteon Corp (NYSE:VC) has witnessed declining sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there was a specific group of funds who sold off their full holdings heading into Q4. It’s worth mentioning that Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments dropped the biggest position of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, valued at an estimated $34.6 million in stock, and Howard Shainker and Akiva Katz’s Bow Street LLC was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $17.6 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Visteon Corp (NYSE:VC). We will take a look at Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE:ORI), Juno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JUNO), United Microelectronics Corp (ADR) (NYSE:UMC), and Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to VC’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
ORI 21 172743 5
JUNO 14 27613 -13
UMC 9 19404 -2
CCU 8 227386 2

As you can see these stocks had an average of 13 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $112 million. That figure was $1,559 million in VC’s case. Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE:ORI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Visteon Corp (NYSE:VC) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.