Here Is What Hedge Funds Think About Tyson Foods, Inc. (TSN)

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 September 30 holdings, data that is available nowhere else. Should you consider Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) for your portfolio? We’ll look to this invaluable collective wisdom for the answer.

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) was in 46 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) investors should be aware of a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately. There were 50 hedge funds in our database with Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article, we will also compare Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) to other stocks, including Telekomunikasi Indns Tbk Prshn PP PT-ADR (NYSE:TLK), ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE:CAG), and Under Armour Inc (NYSE:UA) to get a better sense of its popularity.

In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are viewed as underperforming, old financial vehicles of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, our researchers look at the top tier of this group, around 700 funds. These investment experts orchestrate most of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by watching their top picks, Insider Monkey has brought to light numerous investment strategies that have historically outpaced Mr. Market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points a year for a decade in their back tests.

Now, let’s check out the key action regarding Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN).

How are hedge funds trading Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN)?

At the end of Q3, a total of 46 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a decrease of 8% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Iridian Asset Management, managed by David Cohen and Harold Levy, holds the biggest position in Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN). Iridian Asset Management has a $280.5 million position in the stock, comprising 2.4% of its 13F portfolio. On Iridian Asset Management’s heels is Michael Messner of Seminole Capital (Investment Mgmt), with a $159.2 million position; the fund has 7.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. The remaining peers that hold long positions contain John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies, Dinakar Singh’s TPG-AXON Management LP, and Robert Polak’s Anchor Bolt Capital.

Seeing as Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) has witnessed falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there is a sect of hedge funds who sold off their entire stakes in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Gregg Moskowitz’s Interval Partners said goodbye to the biggest investment of all the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, comprising about $19.6 million in stock, and Frank Brosens’s Taconic Capital was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $14.9 million worth of shares. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN). We will take a look at Telekomunikasi Indns Tbk Prshn PP PT-ADR (NYSE:TLK), ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE:CAG), Under Armour Inc (NYSE:UA), and TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NYSE:AMTD). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 22 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $845 million. That figure was $1.81 billion in Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN)’s case. ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Telekomunikasi Indns Tbk Prshn PP PT-ADR (NYSE:TLK) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) 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.