Ciner Resources LP (CINR): Hedge Fund Sentiment Unchanged

Billionaire hedge fund managers such as Steve Cohen and Stan Druckenmiller can generate millions or even billions of dollars every year by pinning down high-potential small-cap stocks and pouring cash into these candidates. Small-cap stocks are overlooked by most investors, brokerage houses, and financial services hubs, while the unlimited research abilities of the big players within the hedge fund industry can easily identify the undervalued and high-potential stocks that reside the ignored corners of equity markets. There are numerous small-cap stocks that have turned out to be great winners, which is one of the main reasons the Insider Monkey team pays close attention to the hedge fund activity in relation to these stocks.

Hedge fund interest in Ciner Resources LP (NYSE:CINR) shares was flat at the end of last quarter. This is usually a negative indicator. It is important to consider that the shares of Ciner Resources LP (NYSE:CINR) lost 19.96% share value during the quarter, reflecting a potential reason for the drop in hedge fund interest. However, we would try to understand the hedge fund sentiment further by covering the hedge funds that held stakes in Ciner Resources LP (NYSE:CINR), at the end of September.

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 First Majestic Silver Corp (NYSE:AG), Intrawest Resorts Holdings Inc (NYSE:SNOW), and Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services (NYSEMKT:LTS) to gather more data points.

If you’d ask most market participants, hedge funds are seen as worthless, outdated investment tools of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open today, our experts choose to focus on the leaders of this group, approximately 700 funds. These investment experts oversee bulk of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by following their finest equity investments, Insider Monkey has formulated several investment strategies that have historically outrun the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points a year for a decade in their back tests.

Now, we’re going to go over the new action regarding Ciner Resources LP (NYSE:CINR).

How are hedge funds trading Ciner Resources LP (NYSE:CINR)?

Heading into Q4, a total of 4 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, unchanged from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, John Zaro’s Bourgeon Capital has the most valuable position in Ciner Resources LP (NYSE:CINR), worth close to $0.7 million, amounting to 0.5% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is GRT Capital Partners, led by Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk, holding a $0.5 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other professional money managers that hold long positions contain Renaissance Technologies, and Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital.

Earlier we told you that the aggregate hedge fund interest in the stock was unchanged and we view this as a negative development. Even though there weren’t any hedge funds dumping their holdings during the third quarter, there weren’t any hedge funds initiating brand new positions. This indicates that hedge funds, at the very best, perceive this stock as dead money and they haven’t identified any viable catalysts that can attract investor attention.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Ciner Resources LP (NYSE:CINR) but similarly valued. We will take a look at First Majestic Silver Corp (NYSE:AG), Intrawest Resorts Holdings Inc (NYSE:SNOW), Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services (NYSEMKT:LTS), and Student Transportation Inc (NASDAQ:STB). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to Ciner Resources LP (NYSE:CINR)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 9 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $70 million. That figure was $2 million in Ciner Resources LP (NYSE:CINR)’s case. Intrawest Resorts Holdings Inc (NYSE:SNOW) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services (NYSEMKT:LTS) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Ciner Resources LP (NYSE:CINR) is even less popular than Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services (NYSEMKT:LTS). 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.