We at Insider Monkey have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the government. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article we look at what those investors think of Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ:HBHC).
Is Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ:HBHC) a bargain? Investors who are in the know are getting more bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund bets advanced by 2 in recent months. 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 B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS), Time Inc (NYSE:TIME), and Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC) to gather more data points.
Follow Hancock Whitney Corp (NASDAQ:HWC)
Follow Hancock Whitney Corp (NASDAQ:HWC)
In today’s marketplace there are tons of indicators stock market investors employ to appraise publicly traded companies. Two of the best indicators are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a significant margin (see the details here).
Now, let’s go over the latest action surrounding Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ:HBHC).
What have hedge funds been doing with Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ:HBHC)?
At the Q3’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 13% from the second quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Mark Lee’s Forest Hill Capital has the biggest position in Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ:HBHC), worth close to $43.8 million, corresponding to 4.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Lee Munder Capital Group, led by Lee Munder, holding a $22.9 million position; 0.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other members of the smart money with similar optimism consist of Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management, David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
As aggregate interest increased, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, created the most valuable position in Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ:HBHC). Arrowstreet Capital had $9.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also initiated a $3.4 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new HBHC investors: Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ:HBHC). These stocks are B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS), Time Inc (NYSE:TIME), Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC), and Triumph Group Inc (NYSE:TGI). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to HBHC’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| BGS | 16 | 132683 | 5 |
| TIME | 18 | 113280 | -7 |
| GNRC | 14 | 150391 | -1 |
| TGI | 26 | 341365 | -4 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 19 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $184 million. That figure was $143 million in HBHC’s case. Triumph Group Inc (NYSE:TGI) is the most popular stock in this table and Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC) is the least popular one with only 14 bullish hedge fund positions. Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ:HBHC) 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 TGI might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
