Insider Monkey finished processing more than 700 13F filings made by hedge funds and prominent investors. These filings show these funds’ portfolio positions as of September 30. What do these smart investors think about Autohome Inc (ADR) (NYSE:ATHM)?
Is Autohome Inc (ADR) a safe investment now? Prominent investors are getting less optimistic. The number of bullish hedge fund positions retreated by 12 lately. ATHM was in 12 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 24 hedge funds in our database with ATHM positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare ATHM to other stocks including Seaboard Corporation (NYSMKT:SEB), Umpqua Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:UMPQ), and National Instruments Corp (NASDAQ:NATI) to get a better sense of its popularity.
In the financial world there are a large number of formulas stock market investors can use to size up publicly traded companies. A couple of the less known formulas are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a significant amount (see the details here).
Now, let’s take a gander at the key action surrounding Autohome Inc (ADR) (NYSE:ATHM).
What does the smart money think about Autohome Inc (ADR) (NYSE:ATHM)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -50% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Chase Coleman’s Tiger Global Management LLC has the most valuable position in Autohome Inc (ADR) (NYSE:ATHM), worth close to $284.2 million, comprising 3.5% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Select Equity Group, led by Robert Joseph Caruso, holding a $77.8 million position; 0.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers that hold long positions contain Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management, Shashin Shah’s Think Investments and D E Shaw.
Since Autohome Inc (ADR) (NYSE:ATHM) has experienced a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few money managers that slashed their full holdings last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management dumped the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, totaling about $39.6 million in stock, and Glen Kacher’s Light Street Capital was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $14.8 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 12 funds last quarter.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Autohome Inc (ADR) (NYSE:ATHM). These stocks are Seaboard Corporation (NYSEMKT:SEB), Umpqua Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:UMPQ), National Instruments Corp (NASDAQ:NATI), and CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI). This group of stocks’ market values match ATHM’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEB | 7 | 42716 | 1 |
| UMPQ | 19 | 286441 | 1 |
| NATI | 19 | 245021 | 2 |
| CVI | 19 | 2975013 | 2 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $887 million. That figure was $420 million in ATHM’s case. Umpqua Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:UMPQ) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Seaboard Corporation (NYSEMKT:SEB) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. Autohome Inc (ADR) (NYSE:ATHM) 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 UMPQ might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
