Hedge Funds Are Dumping Vantiv Inc (VNTV)

Out of thousands of stocks that are currently traded on the market, it is difficult to determine those that can really generate strong returns. Hedge funds and institutional investors spend millions of dollars on analysts with MBAs and PhDs, who are industry experts and well connected to other industry and media insiders on top of that. Individual investors can piggyback the hedge funds employing these talents and can benefit from their vast resources and knowledge in that way. We analyze quarterly 13F filings of over 700 hedge funds and, by looking at the smart money sentiment that surrounds a stock, we can determine whether it has potential to beat the market over the long-term. Therefore, let’s take a closer look at what smart money thinks about Vantiv Inc (NYSE:VNTV).

Is Vantiv Inc (NYSE:VNTV) an outstanding investment right now? The smart money is becoming less confident. The number of long hedge fund bets dropped by 4 recently. VNTV was in 27 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 31 hedge funds in our database with VNTV 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 Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC), Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP), and Credicorp Ltd. (USA) (NYSE:BAP) to gather more data points.

At the moment there are a large number of indicators stock traders have at their disposal to appraise their stock investments. Some of the less known indicators are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can outclass the broader indices by a significant margin (see the details here).

Now, let’s check out the fresh action surrounding Vantiv Inc (NYSE:VNTV).

What have hedge funds been doing with Vantiv Inc (NYSE:VNTV)?

Heading into Q4, a total of 27 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -13% from the second quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management has the largest position in Vantiv Inc (NYSE:VNTV), worth close to $57.6 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Ben Gambill’s Tiger Eye Capital, with a $40.9 million position; the fund has 5.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions consist of Gilchrist Berg’s Water Street Capital, Clifford Fox’s Columbus Circle Investors, and Lee Munder’s Lee Munder Capital Group.

Seeing as Vantiv Inc (NYSE:VNTV) has faced declining sentiment from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few funds who were dropping their positions entirely in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital cut the largest investment of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, comprising an estimated $19.4 million in stock. Matthew Tewksbury’s fund, Stevens Capital Management, also cut its stock, about $5 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Vantiv Inc (NYSE:VNTV) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC), Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP), Credicorp Ltd. (USA) (NYSE:BAP), and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:WYN). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to VNTV’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 22 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $2.65 billion. That figure was just $474 million in VNTV’s case. Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. Vantiv Inc (NYSE:VNTV) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal, but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard CSC might be a better candidate to consider a long position.