After several tireless days we have finished crunching the numbers from the more than 700 13F filings issued by the elite hedge funds and other investment firms that we track at Insider Monkey, which disclosed those firms’ equity portfolios as of September 30. The results of that effort will be put on display in this article, as we share valuable insight into the smart money sentiment towards TCF Financial Corporation (NYSE:TCF).
TCF Financial Corporation (NYSE:TCF) was in 24 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2018. TCF investors should pay attention to an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately. There were 15 hedge funds in our database with TCF holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that TCF 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 gander at the latest hedge fund action encompassing TCF Financial Corporation (NYSE:TCF).
Hedge fund activity in TCF Financial Corporation (NYSE:TCF)
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2018, a total of 24 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 60% from the second quarter of 2018. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in TCF over the last 13 quarters. 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, Balyasny Asset Management held the most valuable stake in TCF Financial Corporation (NYSE:TCF), which was worth $66.5 million at the end of the third quarter. On the second spot was Azora Capital which amassed $63.7 million worth of shares. Moreover, Millennium Management, Pzena Investment Management, and AQR Capital Management were also bullish on TCF Financial Corporation (NYSE:TCF), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, established the most valuable position in TCF Financial Corporation (NYSE:TCF). Renaissance Technologies had $1.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management also initiated a $0.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new TCF positions are David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, George Zweig, Shane Haas and Ravi Chander’s Signition LP, and Brandon Haley’s Holocene Advisors.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as TCF Financial Corporation (NYSE:TCF) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Amedisys Inc (NASDAQ:AMED), iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Jpn ETF (NASDAQ:AAXJ), Silicon Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ:SLAB), and Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc (NYSE:BXMT). This group of stocks’ market valuations match TCF’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMED | 20 | 140171 | 5 |
| AAXJ | 1 | 1786 | -2 |
| SLAB | 14 | 73412 | 1 |
| BXMT | 14 | 154926 | 4 |
| Average | 12.25 | 92574 | 2 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 12.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $93 million. That figure was $308 million in TCF’s case. Amedisys Inc (NASDAQ:AMED) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Jpn ETF (NASDAQ:AAXJ) is the least popular one with only 1 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks TCF Financial Corporation (NYSE:TCF) 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.