We at Insider Monkey have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the SEC The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of December 31st. In this article, we look at what those funds think of Independent Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:IBCP) based on that data.
Independent Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:IBCP) investors should be aware of an increase in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months. IBCP was in 11 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of December. There were 10 hedge funds in our database with IBCP positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that ibcp isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Hedge funds’ reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn’t keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. 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 32 percentage points since May 2014 through March 12, 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 27.5% through March 12, 2019. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Noam Gottesman, GLG Partners
Let’s take a gander at the new hedge fund action encompassing Independent Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:IBCP).
How are hedge funds trading Independent Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:IBCP)?
Heading into the first quarter of 2019, a total of 11 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 10% from the second quarter of 2018. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards IBCP over the last 14 quarters. So, let’s check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
More specifically, Renaissance Technologies was the largest shareholder of Independent Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:IBCP), with a stake worth $21.8 million reported as of the end of December. Trailing Renaissance Technologies was GLG Partners, which amassed a stake valued at $10.1 million. AQR Capital Management, Millennium Management, and D E Shaw were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
There weren’t any hedge funds initiating brand new positions in the stock during the third quarter.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Independent Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:IBCP). We will take a look at RadNet Inc. (NASDAQ:RDNT), Ascena Retail Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASNA), Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. (NYSE:TOO), and Mechel PAO (NYSE:MTL). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to IBCP’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| RDNT | 14 | 72131 | 3 |
| ASNA | 16 | 78044 | -5 |
| TOO | 8 | 13953 | 1 |
| MTL | 4 | 697 | 1 |
| Average | 10.5 | 41206 | 0 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 10.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $41 million. That figure was $50 million in IBCP’s case. Ascena Retail Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASNA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Mechel PAO (NYSE:MTL) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Independent Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:IBCP) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed that top 15 most popular stocks) among hedge funds returned 24.2% through April 22nd and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by more than 7 percentage points. Unfortunately IBCP wasn’t nearly as popular as these 15 stock and hedge funds that were betting on IBCP were disappointed as the stock returned -0.7% and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 15 most popular stocks) among hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market this year.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
