Judging by the fact that Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (NYSE:SMG) has encountered declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there exists a select few hedge funds who sold off their positions entirely last quarter. Interestingly, Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management dumped the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, totaling about $398.5 million in stock, and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $8.6 million worth of shares.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (NYSE:SMG). We will take a look at Weatherford International Ltd (NYSE:WFT), Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX), EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR), and Watsco Inc (NYSE:WSO). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to SMG’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| WFT | 31 | 587638 | 0 |
| GNTX | 23 | 225660 | 3 |
| EPR | 20 | 172099 | -6 |
| WSO | 18 | 159826 | -2 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 23 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $286 million. That figure was $226 million in SMG’s case. Weatherford International Ltd (NYSE:WFT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Watsco Inc (NYSE:WSO) is the least popular one with only 18 bullish hedge fund positions. Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (NYSE:SMG) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard WFT might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.
Disclosure: None
