While the market driven by short-term sentiment influenced by uncertainty regarding the future of the interest rate environment in the US, declining oil prices and the trade war with China, many smart money investors kept their optimism regarding the current bull run in the fourth quarter, while still hedging many of their long positions. However, as we know, big investors usually buy stocks with strong fundamentals, which is why we believe we can profit from imitating them. In this article, we are going to take a look at the smart money sentiment surrounding Integer Holdings Corporation (NYSE:ITGR).
Integer Holdings Corporation (NYSE:ITGR) shareholders have witnessed an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately. ITGR was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of December. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with ITGR holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that ITGR isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
To most market participants, hedge funds are viewed as slow, outdated investment tools of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at present, Our researchers hone in on the crème de la crème of this club, approximately 750 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group of people direct bulk of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by paying attention to their inimitable investments, Insider Monkey has formulated various investment strategies that have historically surpassed Mr. Market. Insider Monkey’s flagship hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by nearly 5 percentage points per annum since its inception in May 2014 through early November 2018. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 27.5% since February 2017 (through March 12th) even though the market was up nearly 25% during the same period. We just shared a list of 6 short targets in our latest quarterly update and they are already down an average of 6% in less than a month.
We’re going to review the fresh hedge fund action regarding Integer Holdings Corporation (NYSE:ITGR).
What does the smart money think about Integer Holdings Corporation (NYSE:ITGR)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 19 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 12% from the second quarter of 2018. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in ITGR over the last 14 quarters. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
Among these funds, Fisher Asset Management held the most valuable stake in Integer Holdings Corporation (NYSE:ITGR), which was worth $91.7 million at the end of the third quarter. On the second spot was Millennium Management which amassed $35.1 million worth of shares. Moreover, GLG Partners, Renaissance Technologies, and Gotham Asset Management were also bullish on Integer Holdings Corporation (NYSE:ITGR), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Winton Capital Management, managed by David Harding, initiated the biggest position in Integer Holdings Corporation (NYSE:ITGR). Winton Capital Management had $10.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP also initiated a $1 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new ITGR investors: Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Thomas Bailard’s Bailard Inc, and Ronald Hua’s Qtron Investments.
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Integer Holdings Corporation (NYSE:ITGR) but similarly valued. These stocks are Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN), American States Water Co (NYSE:AWR), Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA), and Simpson Manufacturing Co, Inc. (NYSE:SSD). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to ITGR’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| STN | 4 | 61347 | -1 |
| AWR | 12 | 67657 | 0 |
| STRA | 12 | 220516 | -3 |
| SSD | 17 | 189870 | 0 |
| Average | 11.25 | 134848 | -1 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 11.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $135 million. That figure was $219 million in ITGR’s case. Simpson Manufacturing Co, Inc. (NYSE:SSD) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Integer Holdings Corporation (NYSE:ITGR) is more popular among hedge funds. 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 ITGR wasn’t nearly as popular as these 15 stock and hedge funds that were betting on ITGR were disappointed as the stock returned -6.6% 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.
