Hedge Funds Are Dumping Macerich Co (MAC)

The 700+ hedge funds and money managers tracked by Insider Monkey have already compiled and submitted their 13F filings for the third quarter, which unveil their equity positions as of September 30. We went through these filings, fixed typos and other more significant errors and identified the changes in hedge fund positions. Our extensive review of these public filings is finally over, so this article is set to reveal the smart money sentiment towards Macerich Co (NYSE:MAC).

Macerich Co was in 21 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. MAC has seen a decrease in hedge fund sentiment in recent months. There were 29 hedge funds in our database with MAC 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 Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA), CA, Inc. (NASDAQ:CA), and Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) to gather more data points.

According to most traders, hedge funds are seen as underperforming, outdated investment vehicles of years past. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation at the moment, We hone in on the aristocrats of this group, approximately 700 funds. These money managers direct the majority of the smart money’s total asset base, and by tailing their best investments, Insider Monkey has unsheathed numerous investment strategies that have historically outpaced Mr. Market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy defeated the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points a year for a decade in their back tests.

Now, we’re going to take a gander at the fresh action encompassing Macerich Co (NYSE:MAC).

What does the smart money think about Macerich Co (NYSE:MAC)?

At Q3’s end, a total of 21 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of -28% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Martin Whitman’s Third Avenue Management has the most valuable position in Macerich Co (NYSE:MAC), worth close to $150.1 million, accounting for 4.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Third Avenue Management’s heels is AEW Capital Management, managed by Jeffrey Furber, which holds a $85.6 million position; 2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining members of the smart money with similar optimism comprise Jamie Zimmerman’s Litespeed Management, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.

Since Macerich Co (NYSE:MAC) has witnessed falling interest from the smart money, we can see that there exist a select few hedge funds that decided to sell off their positions entirely in the third quarter. Interestingly, Matthew Mark’s Jet Capital Investors cut the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, totaling close to $32.1 million in stock. Matthew Halbower’s fund, Pentwater Capital Management, also sold off its stock, about $14.9 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 8 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Macerich Co (NYSE:MAC). We will take a look at Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA), CA, Inc. (NASDAQ:CA), Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE), and Spectra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:SEP). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to MAC’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 19 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $179 million. That figure was $432 million in MAC’s case. CA, Inc. (NASDAQ:CA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Spectra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:SEP) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Although Macerich Co (NYSE:MAC) is not the most popular stock in this group, it has still managed to attract attention fro investors. This is a slightly positive signal, but we’d rather spend our time focusing on stocks that hedge funds are collectively bullish on. In this regard, CA might be a better candidate to consider a long position.