The Insider Monkey team has completed processing the quarterly 13F filings for the September quarter submitted by the hedge funds and other money managers included in our extensive database. Most hedge fund investors endured a turbulent quarter, which certainly propelled them to adjust their equity holdings so as to maintain their 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 coming out of the rough quarter. The following article will discuss the smart money sentiment towards Bellatrix Exploration Ltd Ordinary Shares (Canada) (NYSEAMEX:BXE).
Bellatrix Exploration Ltd Ordinary Shares (Canada) (NYSEAMEX:BXE) was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. Bellatrix Exploration investors should be aware of a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money of late. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with Bellatrix Exploration holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare Bellatrix Exploration to other stocks including Loxo Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:LOXO), BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDSI), and Seabridge Gold, Inc. (USA) (NYSE:SA) to get a better sense of its popularity.
In the financial world there are a lot of tools shareholders have at their disposal to grade their stock investments. Two of the most innovative tools are hedge fund and insider trading activity. our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a very impressive amount (see the details here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a gander at the new action surrounding Bellatrix Exploration Ltd Ordinary Shares (Canada) (NYSEAMEX:BXE).
What have hedge funds been doing with Bellatrix Exploration Ltd Ordinary Shares (Canada) (NYSEAMEX:BXE)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 10 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a drop of 17% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully (or had already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Daniel Lewis’ Orange Capital has the most valuable position in Bellatrix Exploration Ltd Ordinary Shares (Canada) (NYSEAMEX:BXE), worth close to $50 million, accounting for 3.9% of its total 13F portfolio. On Orange Capital’s heels is Baupost Group, led by Seth Klarman, holding a $36.5 million position; 0.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions contain Youlia Miteva’s Proxima Capital Management, David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management, and Brett Hendrickson’s Nokomis Capital.
Because Bellatrix Exploration Ltd Ordinary Shares (Canada) (NYSEAMEX:BXE) has experienced falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers that decided to sell off their full holdings in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, George McCabe’s Portolan Capital Management dumped the biggest position of the 700 funds monitored by Insider Monkey, worth about $4.3 million in stock. Richard Driehaus’ fund, Driehaus Capital, also dumped its stock, about $3.4 million worth. These moves are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds in the third quarter.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Bellatrix Exploration Ltd Ordinary Shares (Canada) (NYSEAMEX:BXE). We will take a look at Loxo Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:LOXO), BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDSI), Seabridge Gold, Inc. (USA) (NYSE:SA), and National Research Corp (NASDAQ:NRCIA). This group of stocks’ market valuations match Bellatrix Exploration’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOXO | 8 | 160814 | -2 |
| BDSI | 22 | 70408 | -1 |
| SA | 6 | 10438 | -2 |
| NRCIA | 5 | 14496 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 10.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $64 million. That figure was $101 million in Bellatrix Exploration’s case. BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDSI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand National Research Corp (NASDAQ:NRCIA) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Bellatrix Exploration Ltd Ordinary Shares (Canada) (NYSEAMEX:BXE) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard BioDelivery Sciences International might be a better candidate to consider a long position in.
