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 March 31 holdings, data that is available nowhere else. Should you consider AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX) for your portfolio? We’ll look to this invaluable collective wisdom for the answer.
AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX) investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late. Our calculations also showed that AMCX isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds’ large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that’ll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
We’re going to take a peek at the key hedge fund action surrounding AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX).
What does the smart money think about AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 20 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 5% from the previous quarter. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in AMCX over the last 15 quarters. So, let’s examine which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, holds the biggest position in AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX). AQR Capital Management has a $92.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On AQR Capital Management’s heels is Mario Gabelli of GAMCO Investors, with a $50.1 million position; the fund has 0.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other professional money managers that are bullish encompass Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors, Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management and Noam Gottesman’s GLG Partners.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, established the biggest position in AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX). Arrowstreet Capital had $12.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also initiated a $2.2 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new AMCX investors: Roger Ibbotson’s Zebra Capital Management, Mike Vranos’s Ellington, and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX). These stocks are Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC), Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY), FS KKR Capital Corp. (NYSE:FSK), and Apergy Corporation (NYSE:APY). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to AMCX’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| GNRC | 17 | 144727 | -4 |
| VLY | 11 | 26971 | 3 |
| FSK | 19 | 202328 | -1 |
| APY | 12 | 126003 | -1 |
| Average | 14.75 | 125007 | -0.75 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 14.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $125 million. That figure was $259 million in AMCX’s case. FS KKR Capital Corp. (NYSE:FSK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed that top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 1.9% in Q2 through May 30th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by more than 3 percentage points. Unfortunately AMCX wasn’t nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on AMCX were disappointed as the stock returned -5.6% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market in Q2.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
