The Insider Monkey team has completed processing the quarterly 13F filings for the March quarter submitted by the hedge funds and other money managers included in our extensive database. Most hedge fund investors experienced strong gains on the back of a strong market performance, which certainly propelled them to adjust their equity holdings so as to maintain the desired risk profile. As a result, the relevancy of these public filings and their content is indisputable, as they may reveal numerous high-potential stocks. The following article will discuss the smart money sentiment towards Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV).
Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV) has experienced a decrease in hedge fund interest of late. EV was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of March. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with EV positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that EV isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are viewed as slow, outdated investment vehicles of years past. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, We hone in on the leaders of this group, about 750 funds. These money managers watch over the lion’s share of the smart money’s total asset base, and by tracking their first-class picks, Insider Monkey has unsheathed several investment strategies that have historically beaten Mr. Market. Insider Monkey’s flagship hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by around 5 percentage points per annum since its inception in May 2014 through June 18th. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 28.2% since February 2017 (through June 18th) even though the market was up nearly 30% during the same period. We just shared a list of 5 short targets in our latest quarterly update and they are already down an average of 8.2% in a month whereas our long picks outperformed the market by 2.5 percentage points in this volatile 5 week period (our long picks also beat the market by 15 percentage points so far this year).
Let’s take a look at the recent hedge fund action regarding Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV).
How have hedgies been trading Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of -24% from one quarter earlier. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards EV over the last 15 quarters. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
More specifically, Renaissance Technologies was the largest shareholder of Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV), with a stake worth $46.4 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Renaissance Technologies was Citadel Investment Group, which amassed a stake valued at $45.2 million. Millennium Management, AQR Capital Management, and D E Shaw were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Because Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV) has witnessed declining sentiment from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of money managers that elected to cut their positions entirely by the end of the third quarter. Intriguingly, Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates dropped the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, valued at about $1.6 million in stock. Michael Gelband’s fund, ExodusPoint Capital, also cut its stock, about $1.4 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds by the end of the third quarter.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV) but similarly valued. These stocks are FibroGen Inc (NASDAQ:FGEN), Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR), The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG), and AECOM (NYSE:ACM). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to EV’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| FGEN | 21 | 193833 | 1 |
| POR | 19 | 251671 | 0 |
| THG | 23 | 300220 | 3 |
| ACM | 21 | 378709 | 3 |
| Average | 21 | 281108 | 1.75 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 21 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $281 million. That figure was $115 million in EV’s case. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) is the least popular one with only 19 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE:EV) is even less popular than POR. Our calculations showed that top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 6.2% in Q2 through June 19th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by nearly 3 percentage points. A small number of hedge funds were also right about betting on EV, though not to the same extent, as the stock returned 5.1% during the same time frame and outperformed the market as well.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
