World-class money managers like Bill Ackman and Barry Rosenstein only invest their wealthy clients’ money after undertaking a rigorous examination of any potential stock. They are particularly successful in this regard when it comes to small-cap stocks, which their peerless research gives them a big information advantage on when it comes to judging their worth. It’s not surprising then that they generate their biggest returns from these stocks and invest more of their money in these stocks on average than other investors. It’s also not surprising then that we pay close attention to these picks ourselves and have built a market-beating investment strategy around them.
Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:MWW) investors should pay attention to an increase in enthusiasm from smart money recently. MWW was in 31 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 24 hedge funds in our database with MWW holdings at the end of the previous quarter. 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 Entravision Communication (NYSE:EVC), National Presto Industries Inc. (NYSE:NPK), and CalAmp Corp. (NASDAQ:CAMP) to gather more data points.
Follow Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE:MWW)
Follow Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE:MWW)
If you’d ask most stock holders, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, old investment vehicles of the past. While there are more than 8000 funds trading today, Our experts look at the bigwigs of this group, about 700 funds. These investment experts handle most of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by watching their first-class stock picks, Insider Monkey has revealed a few investment strategies that have historically defeated the market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points annually for a decade in their back tests.
With all of this in mind, let’s view the key action surrounding Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:MWW).
How have hedgies been trading Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:MWW)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 31 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, an increase of 29% from the second quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, holds the largest position in Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:MWW), worth roughly $20.1 million and comprising less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On D E Shaw’s heels is Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $15.8 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions contain Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management, Brett Hendrickson’s Nokomis Capital and Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management.
As aggregate interest increased, some big names have been driving this bullishness. McKinley Capital Management, managed by Robert B. Gillam, assembled the most valuable position in Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:MWW). The fund had $7.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP also made a $0.9 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:MWW) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Entravision Communication (NYSE:EVC), National Presto Industries Inc. (NYSE:NPK), CalAmp Corp. (NASDAQ:CAMP), and Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM). All of these stocks’ market caps match MWW’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| EVC | 19 | 93740 | 1 |
| NPK | 11 | 78715 | 1 |
| CAMP | 14 | 32809 | -2 |
| IRDM | 12 | 20789 | 1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 14 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $57 million. That figure was $99 million in MWW’s case, a positive sign. Entravision Communication (NYSE:EVC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand National Presto Industries Inc. (NYSE:NPK) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:MWW) 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.
