We at Insider Monkey have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the government. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article we look at what those investors think of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAWW).
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAWW) investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund sentiment in recent months. AAWW was in 22 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 26 hedge funds in our database with AAWW 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 HudBay Minerals Inc Ord Shs (NYSE:HBM), StoneMor Partners L.P. (NYSE:STON), and Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL) to gather more data points.
Follow Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AAWW)
Follow Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AAWW)
To the average investor there are plenty of methods market participants can use to evaluate publicly traded companies. A couple of the most innovative methods are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a solid amount (see the details here).
Now, let’s take a look at the fresh action surrounding Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAWW).
How have hedgies been trading Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAWW)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 22 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of -15% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, holds the largest position in Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAWW). Fisher Asset Management has a $42 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Renaissance Technologies, holding a $11.8 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. The remaining members of the smart money that hold long positions contain Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Since Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAWW) has witnessed a fall in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there was a specific group of fund managers that decided to sell off their full holdings in the third quarter. Interestingly, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group cut the biggest stake of the 700 funds monitored by Insider Monkey, totaling close to $9.8 million in stock. Chao Ku’s fund, Nine Chapters Capital Management, also cut its stock, about $2.8 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds in the third quarter.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAWW). We will take a look at HudBay Minerals Inc Ord Shs (NYSE:HBM), StoneMor Partners L.P. (NYSE:STON), Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL), and Lands’ End, Inc. (NASDAQ:LE). This group of stocks’ market caps resemble AAWW’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| HBM | 7 | 3215 | -4 |
| STON | 5 | 4517 | 0 |
| FINL | 25 | 149288 | 2 |
| LE | 12 | 287908 | -4 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 12 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $111 million. That figure was $94 million in AAWW’s case. Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL) is the most popular stock in this table, while StoneMor Partners L.P. (NYSE:STON) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAWW) 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 FINL might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
