Hedge Funds Are Buying These 10 Mid-Caps, Part 2

Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO)

-Investors with Long Positions (as of September 30): 30

-Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of September 30): $237.01 Million

The hedge fund sentiment towards Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) was very positive in the third quarter, as the number of hedge funds invested in the mid-cap company increased by ten to 30 during the quarter. As with the above stocks, the value of these investors’ holdings in the company dropped however, to $237.01 million from $246.46 million in spite of the 50% increase in shareholders, as shares fell by about 6% during the quarter. Although Tractor Supply’s business is quite seasonal (most of its sales are generated in the second and fourth quarters), the company managed to deliver quite strong financial figures in the third quarter. Its net sales grew by 8.5% year-over-year to $1.48 billion, while its comparable store sales increased by 2.9% to $1.40 billion. This increase was mainly driven by strong demand in the pet and animal categories, as well as trailers and fencing. David Harding’s Winton Capital Management holds a 647,993-share position in Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) as of September 30.

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR)

-Investors with Long Positions (as of September 30): 29

-Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of September 30): $683.70 Million

The number of smart money investors with stakes in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) stood at 29 at the end of the September quarter, compared to 19 registered at the close of the prior one. Similarly, the value of the money poured into the stock by these investors grew to $683.70 million from $417.55 million during the quarter. The market price trend for energy has put significant weight on the integrated utility company, which has seen its shares decline by 24% this year. In October, the company decided that it will close two of its plants due to the weak market conditions. Entergy will continue to operate two remaining nuclear power generating facilities, one of which sells output under a 15-year agreement sealed back in 2007 at prices that exceed the current market prices. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management was among the hedge funds that initiated a position in Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) during the third quarter, holding approximately 830,000 shares as of the end of September.

Cameron International Corporation (NYSE:CAM)

-Investors with Long Positions (as of September 30): 49

-Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of September 30): $1.78 Billion

Cameron International Corporation (NYSE:CAM) completes our list of ten mid-cap stocks that received strong attention during the July-to-September period. The number of hedge funds in our database that were invested in the company increased to 49 from 37 during the three-month period. At the same time, the value of these stakes more than doubled quarter-over-quarter. It is also worth pointing out that these investors held slightly more than 15% of the company’s outstanding shares on September 30. At the end of August, Cameron and Schlumberger Limited. (NYSE:SLB) sealed a merger agreement, under which a subsidiary of Schlumberger will acquire all of Cameron’s outstanding stock. Hence, each shareholder of Cameron is set to receive 0.716 shares of Schlumberger common stock and $14.44 in cash for each share of Cameron. The merger is anticipated to be closed during the first quarter of 2016. Billionaire John Paulson of Paulson & Co. purchased a 3.00 million-share stake in Cameron International Corporation (NYSE:CAM) during the latest quarter.

Disclosure: None