At Insider Monkey we track the activity of some of the best-performing hedge funds like Appaloosa Management, Baupost, and Third Point because we determined that some of the stocks that they are collectively bullish on can help us generate returns above the broader indices. Out of thousands of stocks that hedge funds invest in, small-caps can provide the best returns over the long term due to the fact that these companies are less efficiently priced and are usually under the radars of mass-media, analysts and dumb money. This is why we follow the smart money moves in the small-cap space.
Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS) was in 11 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2018. AMRS has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with AMRS positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that amrs isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the financial world there are a large number of tools investors have at their disposal to grade stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid amount. Insider Monkey’s flagship best performing hedge funds strategy returned 6.3% year to date (through December 3rd) and outperformed the market even though it draws its stock picks among small-cap stocks. This strategy also outperformed the market by 18 percentage points since its inception (see the details here). That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is a useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
We’re going to take a look at the recent hedge fund action encompassing Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS).
What does the smart money think about Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 11 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 22% from the previous quarter. By comparison, 2 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in AMRS heading into this year. So, let’s see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds, Ardsley Partners held the most valuable stake in Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS), which was worth $18.7 million at the end of the third quarter. On the second spot was Centenus Global Management which amassed $1.3 million worth of shares. Moreover, Citadel Investment Group, Millennium Management, and Manatuck Hill Partners were also bullish on Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
Now, some big names were breaking ground themselves. Centenus Global Management, managed by Sara Nainzadeh, initiated the most outsized position in Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS). Centenus Global Management had $1.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Mark Broach’s Manatuck Hill Partners also initiated a $0.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Bradley LouisáRadoff’s Fondren Management, Michael Platt and William Reeves’s BlueCrest Capital Mgmt., and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS). These stocks are P.A.M. Transportation Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTSI), Attunity Ltd (NASDAQ:ATTU), Drive Shack Inc. (NYSE:DS), and Wells Fargo Advantage Multi-Sector Income Fund (NYSE:ERC). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to AMRS’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| PTSI | 2 | 26478 | 1 |
| ATTU | 13 | 89146 | -1 |
| DS | 7 | 16140 | -1 |
| ERC | 2 | 1314 | -1 |
| Average | 6 | 33270 | -0.5 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
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 $33 million. That figure was $23 million in AMRS’s case. Attunity Ltd (NASDAQ:ATTU) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand P.A.M. Transportation Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTSI) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS) 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 ATTU might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
