Although the masses and most of the financial media blame hedge funds for their exorbitant fee structure and disappointing performance, these investors have proven to have great stock picking abilities over the years (that’s why their assets under management continue to swell). We believe hedge fund sentiment should serve as a crucial tool of an individual investor’s stock selection process, as it offers great insight into how the brightest minds in the finance industry feel about specific stocks. After all, these people have access to analysts and information sources that individual investors can’t match. So should one consider investing in Chase Corporation (NYSEMKT:CCF)? The smart money sentiment can help provide an answer to this question.
Chase Corporation (NYSEMKT:CCF) shares didn’t see a lot of action during the third quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged, while the value of hedgies’ holdings dipped slightly in lockstep with the stock, suggesting that positions were maintained. CCF was in 6 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September, with those investors holding 10% of its common shares. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc. (NYSE:DSU), TRC Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRR), and MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO) to gather more data points.
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Follow Chase Corp (NYSEMKT:CCF)
In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are perceived as slow, old investment vehicles of the past. While there are more than 8,000 funds in operation at present, we look at the top tier of this group, approximately 700 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group of people administer most of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by tailing their matchless picks, Insider Monkey has determined many investment strategies that have historically beaten the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points per year for a decade in their back tests.
With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a look at the fresh action encompassing Chase Corporation (NYSEMKT:CCF).
What does the smart money think about Chase Corporation (NYSEMKT:CCF)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 6 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, unchanged from the second quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably (or had already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the most valuable position in Chase Corporation (NYSEMKT:CCF). Royce & Associates has a $27 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Renaissance Technologies, which holds a $6.7 million position; the fund has less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that are bullish comprise Jeffrey Bronchick’s Cove Street Capital, Zeke Ashton’s Centaur Capital Partners, and Sahm Adrangi’s Kerrisdale Capital.
