Hedge funds are not perfect. They have their bad picks just like everyone else. Facebook, a stock hedge funds have loved, lost a third of its value since the end of July. Although hedge funds are not perfect, their consensus picks do deliver solid returns, however. Our data show the top 30 S&P 500 stocks among hedge funds at the end of September 2018 yielded an average return of 6.7% year-to-date, vs. a gain of 2.6% for the S&P 500 Index. Because hedge funds have a lot of resources and their consensus picks do well, we pay attention to what they think. In this article, we analyze what the elite funds think of Travelport Worldwide Ltd (NYSE:TVPT).
Travelport Worldwide Ltd (NYSE:TVPT) investors should pay attention to an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately. TVPT was in 23 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2018. There were 22 hedge funds in our database with TVPT positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that TVPT isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds’ reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn’t keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research has shown that hedge funds’ large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 18 percentage points since May 2014 through December 3, 2018 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that’ll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 24% through December 3, 2018. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let’s go over the latest hedge fund action encompassing Travelport Worldwide Ltd (NYSE:TVPT).
What does the smart money think about Travelport Worldwide Ltd (NYSE:TVPT)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 23 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 5% from the second quarter of 2018. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards TVPT over the last 13 quarters. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were adding to their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
Among these funds, Elliott Management held the most valuable stake in Travelport Worldwide Ltd (NYSE:TVPT), which was worth $113.9 million at the end of the third quarter. On the second spot was GLG Partners which amassed $21.7 million worth of shares. Moreover, Sunriver Management, Citadel Investment Group, and AQR Capital Management were also bullish on Travelport Worldwide Ltd (NYSE:TVPT), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, created the most valuable position in Travelport Worldwide Ltd (NYSE:TVPT). Renaissance Technologies had $2.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments also made a $1.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital, Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp, and Jeffrey Talpins’s Element Capital Management.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Travelport Worldwide Ltd (NYSE:TVPT). We will take a look at ABM Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ABM), BioTelemetry, Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAT), Globant SA (NYSE:GLOB), and Retail Opportunity Investments Corp (NASDAQ:ROIC). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to TVPT’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABM | 11 | 61035 | -3 |
| BEAT | 16 | 67760 | 1 |
| GLOB | 17 | 74680 | -2 |
| ROIC | 11 | 15038 | 7 |
| Average | 13.75 | 54628 | 0.75 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 13.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $55 million. That figure was $254 million in TVPT’s case. Globant SA (NYSE:GLOB) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand ABM Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ABM) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Travelport Worldwide Ltd (NYSE:TVPT) 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.
