The Insider Monkey team has completed processing the quarterly 13F filings for the September quarter submitted by the hedge funds and other money managers included in our extensive database. Most hedge fund investors endured a torrid quarter, which certainly propelled them to adjust their equity holdings so as to maintain the desired risk profile. As a result, the relevancy of these public filings and their content is indisputable, as they may reveal numerous high-potential stocks. The following article will discuss the smart money sentiment towards Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CNSL).
Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CNSL) shares haven’t seen a lot of action during the third quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged. The stock was in 6 hedge funds’ portfolios 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 B2Gold Corp (NYSEMKT:BTG), Investors Real Estate Trust (NYSE:IRET), and Fortress Transprtn and Infr Investrs LLC (NYSE:FTAI) to gather more data points.
Follow Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CNSL)
Follow Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CNSL)
Today there are several methods shareholders can use to size up stocks. A couple of the most underrated methods are hedge fund and insider trading activity. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass the market by a superb amount (see the details here).
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a glance at the latest action regarding Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CNSL).
How have hedgies been trading Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CNSL)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 6 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies has the most valuable position in Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CNSL), worth close to $3.2 million, corresponding to less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Citadel Investment Group, led by Ken Griffin, holding a $0.8 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that are bullish include Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.
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 also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CNSL) but similarly valued. These stocks are B2Gold Corp (NYSEMKT:BTG), Investors Real Estate Trust (NYSE:IRET), Fortress Transprtn and Infr Investrs LLC (NYSE:FTAI), and Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble CNSL’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTG | 9 | 13939 | 0 |
| IRET | 12 | 17458 | 3 |
| FTAI | 5 | 771598 | -4 |
| DMND | 20 | 237190 | 3 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 12 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $260 million. That figure was $5 million in CNSL’s case. Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Fortress Transprtn and Infr Investrs LLC (NYSE:FTAI) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CNSL) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard DMND might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
