Hedge fund managers like David Einhorn, Dan Loeb, or Carl Icahn became billionaires through reaping large profits for their investors, which is why piggybacking their stock picks may provide us with significant returns as well. Many hedge funds, like Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, are pretty secretive, but we can still get some insights by analyzing their quarterly 13F filings. One of the most fertile grounds for large abnormal returns is hedge funds’ most popular small-cap picks, which are not so widely followed and often trade at a discount to their intrinsic value. In this article we will check out hedge fund activity in another small-cap stock: Wilshire Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:WIBC).
Wilshire Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:WIBC) has seen an increase in hedge fund interest lately. At the end of this article we will also compare WIBC to other stocks, including National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI), Acceleron Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:XLRN), and Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Wilshire Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:WIBC)
Follow Wilshire Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:WIBC)
In the financial world there are dozens of indicators market participants employ to assess stocks. Some of the less utilized indicators are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can beat the market by a very impressive amount (see the details here).
With all of this in mind, let’s analyze the key action surrounding Wilshire Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:WIBC).
How have hedgies been trading Wilshire Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:WIBC)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 8% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies has the number one position in Wilshire Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:WIBC), worth close to $21.1 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Fred Cummings’ Elizabeth Park Capital Management, with a $6.8 million position; 2.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers that are bullish encompass Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, assembled the largest position in Wilshire Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:WIBC). Fisher Asset Management had $2.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $1.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new WIBC investors: Paul Tudor Jones’ Tudor Investment Corp and Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Wilshire Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:WIBC). We will take a look at National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI), Acceleron Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:XLRN), Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT), and Golub Capital BDC Inc (NASDAQ:GBDC). This group of stocks’ market caps resemble WIBC’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCMI | 18 | 69337 | 4 |
| XLRN | 15 | 99202 | -3 |
| CLDT | 16 | 159382 | 0 |
| GBDC | 7 | 21982 | 3 |
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 $87 million, compared to $44 million in WIBC’s case. National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Golub Capital BDC Inc (NASDAQ:GBDC) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. Wilshire Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:WIBC) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard NCMI might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
