Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL) is up by 8.05% in trading this morning following the release of strong third quarter earnings results. Revenue for the apparel and accessories retailer grew by 6.2% year-over-year to $1.24 billion, while its earnings per share of $0.25 beat estimates of $0.22. The strong results come after the company posted a loss per share for the third quarter of 2014, signifying impressive improvement in its operational efficiency. After impressive growth from its IPO in October 2013, through March 2015, shares have trended down through the last eight months, which may have prompted more investors to take a look at the stock, as interest in it rose during the third quarter. Let’s see how Burlington Stores was being traded in the third quarter by the pool of talented investors tracked by Insider Monkey in relation to other similarly-sized companies.
Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL) investors should pay attention to an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL) was in 39 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 38 hedge funds in our database with Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL) positions 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 Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (NYSE:BAH), Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE:SNH), and Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII) to gather more data points.
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At the moment there are a lot of indicators investors put to use to grade publicly traded companies. A pair of the best indicators are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a solid margin (see the details here).
Now, let’s go over the recent action regarding Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL).
How are hedge funds trading Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 39 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a 3% uptick from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund and institutional investor database, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group has the largest position in Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL), worth close to $123.6 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Citadel Investment Group’s heels is Jason Karp’s Tourbillon Capital Partners, with a $72.2 million position; 1.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers that are bullish contain Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, Clifford Fox’s Columbus Circle Investors, and Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management.
Now, some big names have jumped into Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL) headfirst. Tourbillon Capital Partners assembled the most outsized position in Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL). Tourbillon Capital Partners had $72.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management also made a $31.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Christopher A. Winham’s Tide Point Capital, and Gregg Moskowitz’s Interval Partners.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL). We will take a look at Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (NYSE:BAH), Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE:SNH), Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII), and Vedanta Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:VEDL). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to BURL’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAH | 15 | 152198 | -8 |
| SNH | 14 | 53242 | -3 |
| OII | 28 | 183011 | 1 |
| VEDL | 8 | 9625 | 5 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 16.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $100 million. That figure was $772 million in Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL)’s case. Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Vedanta Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:VEDL) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL) is far more popular among the investors in our database, and has far more money invested in it (in fact it has more money invested in than all four other stocks combined. Considering that smart money is fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers and the company’s performance appears to be backing up their bullishness, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.
