A whopping number of 13F filings filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been processed by Insider Monkey so that individual investors can look at the overall hedge fund sentiment towards the stocks included in their watchlists. These freshly-submitted public filings disclose money managers’ equity positions as of the end of the three-month period that ended September 30, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on Air Transport Services Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG).
Air Transport Services Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG) saw an increase in popularity among smart money investors during the third quarter. There were 18 hedge funds in our database with ATSG holdings at the end of September, compared to 16 funds at the end of June. At the end of this article we will also compare ATSG to other stocks including Universal Health Realty Income Trust (NYSE:UHT), Caretrus REIT Inc (NASDAQ:CTRE), and Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AMPH) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Air Transport Services Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG)
Follow Air Transport Services Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG)
We care about hedge fund sentiment because historically hedge funds’ stock picks delivered strong risk adjusted returns. There are certain segments of the market where hedge funds’ stock picks performed much better than its benchmarks. For instance, the 30 most popular mid-cap stocks among the best performing hedge funds returned 18% over the last 12 months outpacing S&P 500 Index by more than 10 percentage points. We developed this strategy 2.5 years ago and started sharing its picks in our quarterly newsletter. It bested the S&P 500 Index ETFs by delivering a solid 39% vs. 22% gain for its benchmarks.
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Now, we’re going to review the recent action surrounding Air Transport Services Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG).
What have hedge funds been doing with Air Transport Services Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on Air Transport Services Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG), which represents an increase of 13% from the end of the second quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards ATSG over the last five quarters. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Willem Mesdag’s Red Mountain Capital has the largest position in Air Transport Services Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG), worth close to $105.1 million, amounting to 31.8% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Phil Frohlich’s Prescott Group Capital Management, with a $59.1 million position; the fund has 12.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers with similar optimism comprise Michael M. Rothenberg’s Moab Capital Partners, Gregg J. Powers’ Private Capital Management, and Richard S. Meisenberg’s ACK Asset Management. We should note that Moab Capital Partners is among our list of the 100 best performing hedge funds which is based on the performance of their 13F long positions in non-microcap stocks.
