“Market volatility has picked up again over the past few weeks. Headlines highlight risks regarding interest rates, the Fed, China, house prices, auto sales, trade wars, and more. Uncertainty abounds. But doesn’t it always? I have no view on whether the recent volatility will continue for a while, or whether the market will be back at all-time highs before we know it. I remain focused on preserving and growing our capital, and continue to believe that the best way to do so is via a value-driven, concentrated, patient approach. I shun consensus holdings, rich valuations, and market fads, in favor of solid, yet frequently off-the-beaten-path, businesses run by excellent, aligned management teams, purchased at deep discounts to intrinsic value,” are the words of Maran Capital’s Dan Roller. His stock picks have been beating the S&P 500 Index handily. We pay attention to what hedge funds are doing in a particular stock before considering a potential investment because it works for us. So let’s take a glance at the smart money sentiment towards Craft Brew Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:BREW) and see how it was affected.
Is Craft Brew Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:BREW) undervalued? Money managers are taking a bullish view. The number of bullish hedge fund bets improved by 2 recently. Our calculations also showed that brew isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Today there are a multitude of metrics shareholders put to use to grade their holdings. A couple of the less known metrics are hedge fund and insider trading signals. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a superb margin (see the details here).
We’re going to go over the fresh hedge fund action surrounding Craft Brew Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:BREW).
What have hedge funds been doing with Craft Brew Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:BREW)?
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2018, a total of 15 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 15% from one quarter earlier. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in BREW over the last 13 quarters. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, J. Carlo Cannell’s Cannell Capital has the most valuable position in Craft Brew Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:BREW), worth close to $10.1 million, corresponding to 2.7% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Richard McGuire of Marcato Capital Management, with a $6.7 million position; the fund has 0.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining members of the smart money that hold long positions encompass Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
Now, key hedge funds have jumped into Craft Brew Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:BREW) headfirst. Marshall Wace LLP, managed by Paul Marshall and Ian Wace, created the most outsized position in Craft Brew Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:BREW). Marshall Wace LLP had $0.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Noam Gottesman’s GLG Partners also made a $0.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new BREW position is D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Craft Brew Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:BREW). We will take a look at Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN), Investors Title Company (NASDAQ:ITIC), National Bankshares Inc. (NASDAQ:NKSH), and Celyad SA (NASDAQ:CYAD). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to BREW’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| CCRN | 8 | 15703 | -3 |
| ITIC | 3 | 39225 | 1 |
| NKSH | 2 | 22280 | 0 |
| CYAD | 2 | 1452 | 0 |
| Average | 3.75 | 19665 | -0.5 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 3.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $20 million. That figure was $32 million in BREW’s case. Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand National Bankshares Inc. (NASDAQ:NKSH) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Craft Brew Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:BREW) 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.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
