Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Charles River Laboratories (CRL)

Is Charles River Laboratories (NYSE:CRL) a good stock to buy right now? We at Insider Monkey like to examine what billionaires and hedge funds think of a company before doing days of research on it. Given their 2 and 20 payment structure, hedge funds have more resources than the average investor. The funds have access to expert networks and get tips from industry insiders. They also have numerous Ivy League graduates and MBAs. Like everyone else, hedge funds perform miserably at times, but their consensus picks have historically outperformed the market after risk adjustments.

Is Charles River Laboratories (NYSE:CRL) a bargain? Hedge funds are taking a pessimistic view. The number of bullish hedge fund positions decreased by 3 lately. 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 Leidos Holdings Inc (NYSE:LDOS), EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR), and YY Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:YY) to gather more data points.

With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the latest action encompassing Charles River Laboratories (NYSE:CRL).

What does the smart money think about Charles River Laboratories (NYSE:CRL)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 27 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -10% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies has the number one position in Charles River Laboratories (NYSE:CRL), worth close to $51.8 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Renaissance Technologies’s heels is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which holds a $40.2 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism comprise James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management and Lee Munder’s Lee Munder Capital Group.

Due to the fact that Charles River Laboratories (NYSE:CRL) has experienced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, we can see that there is a sect of hedge funds that elected to cut their full holdings last quarter. Intriguingly, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management dumped the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, totaling about $14.1 million in stock. Steve Cohen’s fund, Point72 Asset Management, also dropped its stock, about $13 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 3 funds last quarter.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Charles River Laboratories (NYSE:CRL). These stocks are Leidos Holdings Inc (NYSE:LDOS), EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR), YY Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:YY), and Radius Health Inc (NASDAQ:RDUS). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to CRL’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 20.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $253 million. That figure was $397 million in CRL’s case. Leidos Holdings Inc (NYSE:LDOS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) is the least popular one with only 18 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Charles River Laboratories (NYSE:CRL) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.