Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU) was in 5 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. CCU investors should be aware of a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money of late. There were 5 hedge funds in our database with CCU positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In the eyes of most shareholders, hedge funds are assumed to be worthless, old investment tools of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds with their doors open today, we choose to focus on the bigwigs of this group, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group oversees the lion’s share of the smart money’s total capital, and by paying attention to their top picks, we have brought to light a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have beaten the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).
Just as key, positive insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. Obviously, there are a variety of reasons for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a gander at the key action encompassing Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU).
What does the smart money think about Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.
Of the funds we track, Marshall Wace LLP, managed by Paul Marshall and Ian Wace, holds the biggest position in Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU). Marshall Wace LLP has a $9.6 million position in the stock, comprising 0.6% of its 13F portfolio. On Marshall Wace LLP’s heels is D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, which held a $3.3 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
Judging by the fact that Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU) has faced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, we can see that there exists a select few fund managers who sold off their positions entirely in Q1. It’s worth mentioning that Chase Coleman and Feroz Dewan’s Tiger Global Management LLC said goodbye to the biggest investment of all the hedgies we monitor, totaling an estimated $6 million in stock.. Peter Rathjens Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s fund, Arrowstreet Capital, also said goodbye to its stock, about $0 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
What have insiders been doing with Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU)?
Bullish insider trading is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time period, Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU). These stocks are Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ADR) (NYSE:BUD), Companhia de Bebidas das Americas (ADR) (NYSE:ABV), Vina Concha y Toro S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:VCO), Boston Beer Co Inc (NYSE:SAM), and Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP). All of these stocks are in the beverages – brewers industry and their market caps match CCU’s market cap.
