A whopping number of 13F filings filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has 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 the end of the three-month period that ended September 30, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS).
Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS) has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest lately. Our calculations also showed that ATUS isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the 21st-century investor’s toolkit, there are a lot of gauges shareholders can use to assess stocks. A duo of the less known gauges are hedge fund and insider trading interest. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a superb amount (see the details here).
We’re going to view the recent hedge fund action encompassing Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS).
What does the smart money think about Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS)?
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2018, a total of 47 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 24% from one quarter earlier. On the other hand, there were a total of 26 hedge funds with a bullish position in ATUS at the beginning of this year. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
More specifically, Citadel Investment Group was the largest shareholder of Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS), with a stake worth $277.9 million reported as of the end of September. Trailing Citadel Investment Group was Pelham Capital, which amassed a stake valued at $141.9 million. Zimmer Partners, Hunt Lane Capital, and Sylebra Capital Management were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Consequently, specific money managers have jumped into Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS) headfirst. Greenlight Capital, managed by David Einhorn, assembled the biggest position in Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS). Greenlight Capital had $52.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also made a $52.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are David Fiszel’s Honeycomb Asset Management, James Parsons’s Junto Capital Management, and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS). We will take a look at Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS), Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY), Diamondback Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FANG), and Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc (NYSE:ARE). This group of stocks’ market caps matches ATUS’ market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| HAS | 20 | 279183 | 3 |
| NLY | 23 | 346629 | 7 |
| FANG | 37 | 1325118 | 9 |
| ARE | 18 | 354276 | -5 |
| Average | 24.5 | 576 | 3.5 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 24.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $576 million. That figure was $1492 million in ATUS’s case. Diamondback Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FANG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc (NYSE:ARE) is the least popular one with only 18 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS) 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.
