A whopping number of 13F filings filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have been processed by Insider Monkey so that individual investors can look at the overall hedge fund sentiment towards the stocks included in their watchlists. These freshly-submitted public filings disclose money managers’ equity positions as of September 30, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:EZCH).
Is EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:EZCH) a splendid investment now? Money managers are getting more bullish. The number of long hedge fund bets improved by 1 recently. 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 Crossamerica Partners LP (NYSE:CAPL), City Holding Company (NASDAQ:CHCO), and Biglari Holdings Inc (NYSE:BH) to gather more data points.
Follow Ezchip Semiconductor Ltd (NASDAQ:EZCH)
Follow Ezchip Semiconductor Ltd (NASDAQ:EZCH)
If you’d ask most stock holders, hedge funds are viewed as slow, old investment tools of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8,000 funds trading at the moment, our experts hone in on the aristocrats of this club, around 700 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group of people control the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by paying attention to their unrivaled stock picks, Insider Monkey has brought to light a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points a year for a decade in their back tests.
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to go over the recent action regarding EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:EZCH).
How are hedge funds trading EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:EZCH)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 10 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, an 11% rise from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully (or had already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Raging Capital Management, managed by William C. Martin, holds the biggest position in EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:EZCH). Raging Capital Management has a $48.9 million position in the stock, comprising 6.4% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Water Island Capital, managed by John Orrico, which holds a $15.1 million position; 0.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other members of the smart money that are bullish encompass Renaissance Technologies, Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies, and Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Water Island Capital established the most valuable position in EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:EZCH). Water Island Capital had $15.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. GAMCO Investors also initiated a $2.5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. positions are Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management and Paul Glazer’s Glazer Capital.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:EZCH) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Crossamerica Partners LP (NYSE:CAPL), City Holding Company (NASDAQ:CHCO), Biglari Holdings Inc (NYSE:BH), and Deltic Timber Corp (NYSE:DEL). All of these stocks’ market caps are closest to EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. ‘s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAPL | 4 | 15974 | -2 |
| CHCO | 10 | 46301 | 0 |
| BH | 5 | 33915 | -4 |
| DEL | 5 | 168021 | -1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 6 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $66 million. That figure was $84 million in EZchip Semiconductor Ltd.’s case. City Holding Company (NASDAQ:CHCO) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Crossamerica Partners LP (NYSE:CAPL) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:EZCH) is tied for the most popular stock in this group and has an above-average amount of capital invested in it. This is a positive signal and makes the stock a good candidate to consider a long position in.
