Is Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (AHL) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Before we spend many hours researching a company, we’d like to analyze what hedge funds and billionaire investors think of the stock first. We would like to do so because the elite investors’ consensus returns have been exceptional. The top 30 S&P 500 stocks among hedge funds at the end of September 2014 yielded an average return of 9.5% during the last 12 months ending in October 30. Sixty three percent of these 30 stocks outperformed the market. Although the elite funds occasionally have their duds, such as Micron and Anadarko Petroleum, which fell 50% and 26%, respectively during the same time period, the hedge fund picks seem to work on average. In the following paragraphs, we find out what the billionaire investors and hedge funds think of Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL).

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL) investors should be aware of an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently. AHL was in 22 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 20 hedge funds in our database with AHL positions at the end of the previous quarter. 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 Telecom Argentina S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TEO), CVR Refining LP (NYSE:CVRR), and Vista Outdoor Inc (NYSE:VSTO) to gather more data points.

According to most market participants, hedge funds are assumed to be slow, old investment tools of years past. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open at the moment, We hone in on the bigwigs of this club, approximately 700 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group of people command bulk of the smart money’s total capital, and by tracking their inimitable investments, Insider Monkey has brought to light various investment strategies that have historically outrun the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points annually for a decade in their back tests.

Now, we’re going to take a glance at the new action surrounding Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL).

Hedge fund activity in Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL)

At the Q3’s end, a total of 22 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 10% from the second quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the largest position in Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL). Citadel Investment Group has a $42.2 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. On Citadel Investment Group’s heels is Pzena Investment Management, managed by Richard S. Pzena, which holds a $27.6 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions encompass Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

As one would reasonably expect, key money managers have jumped into Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL) headfirst. Two Sigma Advisors, managed by John Overdeck and David Siegel, initiated the biggest position in Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL). Two Sigma Advisors had $1.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management also initiated a $1.2 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Peter Muller’s PDT Partners.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL). We will take a look at Telecom Argentina S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TEO), CVR Refining LP (NYSE:CVRR), Vista Outdoor Inc (NYSE:VSTO), and Sensient Technologies Corporation (NYSE:SXT). This group of stocks’ market values match AHL’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 14 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $290 million. That figure was $201 million in AHL’s case. Vista Outdoor Inc (NYSE:VSTO) is the most popular stock in this table with 20 funds reporting shares in the last round of 13F filings. On the other hand CVR Refining LP (NYSE:CVRR) is the least popular one. Compared to these stocks Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.