As we already know from media reports and hedge fund investor letters, many hedge funds lost money in the third quarter, blaming macroeconomic conditions and unpredictable events that hit several sectors, with healthcare among them. Nevertheless, most investors decided to stick to their bullish theses and their long-term focus allows us to profit from the recent declines. In particular, let’s take a look at what hedge funds think about World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE) in this article.
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE) shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund interest recently. 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 EP Energy Corp (NYSE:EPE), HFF, Inc. (NYSE:HF), and United Community Banks Inc (NASDAQ:UCBI) to gather more data points.
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In today’s marketplace there are dozens of metrics shareholders use to size up publicly traded companies. A pair of the most under-the-radar metrics are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a very impressive amount (see the details here).
With all of this in mind, let’s go over the new action encompassing World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE).
Hedge fund activity in World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE)
At Q3’s end, a total of 21 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a jump of 50% from the second quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Eminence Capital, managed by Ricky Sandler, holds the largest position in World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE). The fund reportedly has a $55.4 million position in the stock, comprising 0.9% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Mario Cibelli of Marathon Partners, with a $16.1 million stake; 6.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism comprise Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management.
As aggregate interest increased, key hedge funds have jumped into World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE) headfirst. Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, assembled the biggest new position in World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE). Accord to its latest 13F filing, the fund had $7.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management also initiated a $6.3 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management, David Forster and Peter Wilton’s IBIS Capital Partners, and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE) but similarly valued. We will take a look at EP Energy Corp (NYSE:EPE), HFF, Inc. (NYSE:HF), United Community Banks Inc (NASDAQ:UCBI), and Global Blood Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:GBT). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble WWE’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPE | 19 | 95742 | -2 |
| HF | 18 | 76669 | 3 |
| UCBI | 15 | 293455 | -4 |
| GBT | 14 | 182306 | 14 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 17 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $162 million. That figure was $110 million in WWE’s case. EP Energy Corp (NYSE:EPE) is the most popular stock in this table, while Global Blood Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:GBT) is the least popular one with only 14 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE) 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.
