The latest 13F reporting period has come and gone, and Insider Monkey is again at the forefront when it comes to making use of this gold mine of data. We have processed the filings of the more than 700 world-class investment firms that we track and now have access to the collective wisdom contained in these filings, which are based on their December 31 holdings, data that is available nowhere else. Should you consider OFG Bancorp (NYSE:OFG) for your portfolio? We’ll look to this invaluable collective wisdom for the answer.
OFG Bancorp (NYSE:OFG) shareholders have witnessed an increase in enthusiasm from smart money recently. OFG was in 17 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2018. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with OFG positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that ofg isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds’ large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 32 percentage points since May 2014 through March 12, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that’ll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 27.5% through March 12, 2019. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let’s go over the fresh hedge fund action regarding OFG Bancorp (NYSE:OFG).
How are hedge funds trading OFG Bancorp (NYSE:OFG)?
At Q4’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 55% from the second quarter of 2018. On the other hand, there were a total of 12 hedge funds with a bullish position in OFG a year ago. So, let’s review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds, Arrowstreet Capital held the most valuable stake in OFG Bancorp (NYSE:OFG), which was worth $9.2 million at the end of the fourth quarter. On the second spot was GLG Partners which amassed $9 million worth of shares. Moreover, Winton Capital Management, Two Sigma Advisors, and Polaris Capital Management were also bullish on OFG Bancorp (NYSE:OFG), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
As aggregate interest increased, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Winton Capital Management, managed by David Harding, initiated the most outsized position in OFG Bancorp (NYSE:OFG). Winton Capital Management had $6.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Bernard Horn’s Polaris Capital Management also made a $5.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital, David Halpert’s Prince Street Capital Management, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to OFG Bancorp (NYSE:OFG). These stocks are Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK), Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND), Milacron Holdings Corp (NYSE:MCRN), and Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:APOG). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to OFG’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| SBLK | 19 | 456049 | 3 |
| SAND | 9 | 42972 | -1 |
| MCRN | 22 | 56001 | 5 |
| APOG | 16 | 115597 | -1 |
| Average | 16.5 | 167655 | 1.5 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 16.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $168 million. That figure was $60 million in OFG’s case. Milacron Holdings Corp (NYSE:MCRN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. OFG Bancorp (NYSE:OFG) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our calculations showed that top 15 most popular stocks) among hedge funds returned 24.2% through April 22nd and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by more than 7 percentage points. Unfortunately OFG wasn’t nearly as popular as these 15 stock and hedge funds that were betting on OFG were disappointed as the stock returned 14.9% and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 15 most popular stocks) among hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market this year.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
