Elite Investors Are Growing Bullish On Ralph Lauren Corp (RL)

Insider Monkey has processed numerous 13F filings of hedge funds and famous investors to create an extensive database of hedge fund holdings. The 13F filings show the hedge funds and investors’ positions as of the end of the third quarter. You can find write-ups about an individual hedge fund’s trades on numerous financial news websites. However, in this article we will take a look at their collective moves and analyze what the smart money thinks of Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL) based on that data.

Is Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL) the right pick for your portfolio? Prominent investors are buying. The number of long hedge fund bets increased by five recently. Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL) was in 33 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 28 hedge funds in our database with Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL) holdings 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 Kimco Realty Corp (NYSE:KIM), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX), and Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU) to gather more data points.

To the average investor there are tons of signals stock traders put to use to value stocks. A duo of the most underrated signals are hedge fund and insider trading interest. our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outpace the broader indices by a significant margin (see the details here).

With all of this in mind, we’re going to view the latest action regarding Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL).

What does the smart money think about Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL)?

Heading into Q4, a total of 33 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish in this stock, an increase of 18% from the second quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the most valuable position in Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL). Citadel Investment Group has a $150.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $85.6 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions comprise Legg Mason Capital Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

Now, some big names have jumped into Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL) headfirst. Interval Partners, managed by Gregg Moskowitz, established the most outsized position in Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL). Interval Partners had $24.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates also initiated an $18.5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Robert Joseph Caruso’s Select Equity Group, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, and Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL). These stocks are Kimco Realty Corp (NYSE:KIM), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX), Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU), and Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL). This group of stocks’ market values match Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL)’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 31 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $905 million. That figure was $701 million in Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL)’s case. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Kimco Realty Corp (NYSE:KIM) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) or Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU) might be better candidates to consider a long position in.