The Insider Monkey team has completed processing the quarterly 13F filings for the September quarter submitted by the hedge funds and other money managers included in our extensive database. Most hedge fund investors endured a torrid quarter, which certainly propelled them to adjust their equity holdings so as to maintain the desired risk profile. As a result, the relevancy of these public filings and their content is indisputable, as they may reveal numerous high-potential stocks. The following article will discuss the smart money sentiment towards Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE:DECK).
Is Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE:DECK) going to take off soon? Investors who are in the know are in an optimistic mood. The number of bullish hedge fund positions rose by 2 in recent months. Our calculations also showed that DECK isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
According to most investors, hedge funds are perceived as underperforming, old financial tools of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8,000 funds in operation at the moment, Our researchers look at the aristocrats of this group, about 700 funds. It is estimated that this group of investors command most of the smart money’s total asset base, and by monitoring their highest performing investments, Insider Monkey has unsheathed numerous investment strategies that have historically surpassed Mr. Market. Insider Monkey’s flagship hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 6 percentage points a year since its inception in May 2014 through early November 2018. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 24% since February 2017 (through December 3rd) even though the market was up nearly 23% during the same period. We just shared a list of 11 short targets in our latest quarterly update.
We’re going to go over the recent hedge fund action regarding Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE:DECK).
How have hedgies been trading Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE:DECK)?
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2018, a total of 22 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 10% from the second quarter of 2018. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in DECK over the last 13 quarters. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were adding to their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
More specifically, AQR Capital Management was the largest shareholder of Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE:DECK), with a stake worth $128.4 million reported as of the end of September. Trailing AQR Capital Management was GLG Partners, which amassed a stake valued at $33.8 million. Marshall Wace LLP, HBK Investments, and D E Shaw were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Now, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. North Fourth Asset Management, managed by Anthony Joseph Vaccarino, assembled the biggest position in Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE:DECK). North Fourth Asset Management had $1.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital also initiated a $1 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new DECK positions are Sander Gerber’s Hudson Bay Capital Management and David Andre and Astro Teller’s Cerebellum Capital.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE:DECK). We will take a look at Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT), Liberty Latin America Ltd. (NASDAQ:LILA), Navient Corp (NASDAQ:NAVI), and The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO). All of these stocks’ market caps are closest to DECK’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| KMT | 21 | 438773 | 3 |
| LILA | 11 | 121142 | -3 |
| NAVI | 27 | 582199 | -1 |
| BCO | 24 | 536565 | 5 |
| Average | 20.75 | 419670 | 1 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 20.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $420 million. That figure was $284 million in DECK’s case. Navient Corp (NASDAQ:NAVI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Liberty Global PLC LiLAC Class A (NASDAQ:LILA) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE:DECK) 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 NAVI might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
