It seems that the masses and most of the financial media hate hedge funds and what they do, but why is this hatred of hedge funds so prominent? At the end of the day, these asset management firms do not gamble the hard-earned money of the people who are on the edge of poverty. Truth be told, most hedge fund managers and other smaller players within this industry are very smart and skilled lads. Of course, they may also make wrong bets in some instances, but no one knows what the future holds and how market participants will react to the bountiful news that keep flooding each day. The S&P 500 Index gained 5.2% in the 12 month-period that ended October 30, while less than 49% of its stocks beat the benchmark. In contrast, the 30 most popular S&P 500 stocks among the hedge fund investors tracked by the Insider Monkey team returned 9.5% over the same period, which provides evidence that these money managers do have great stock picking abilities. Even more to that, 63% of these stocks managed to beat the S&P 500 Index. That’s why, we believe, it isn’t a waste of time to check out hedge fund sentiment before you invest in a stock like Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX).
Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX) was in 9 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX) holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article, we will also compare Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX) to other stocks including Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY), Vereit Inc (NYSE:VER), and Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE:BRX)
Follow Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE:BRX)
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a gander at the key action regarding Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX).
What have hedge funds been doing with Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 9 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long in this stock, a decrease of 36% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Renaissance Technologies had the most valuable position in Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX), worth close to $44.9 million, amounting to 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Renaissance Technologies’s heels is Lee Munder of Lee Munder Capital Group, with a $11.4 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other peers that are bullish encompass Greg Poole’s Echo Street Capital Management, D E Shaw and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Since Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX) has faced bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there were a few funds that slashed their positions entirely last quarter. Intriguingly, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors dumped the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds tracked by Insider Monkey, totaling an estimated $7.6 million in stock. Glenn Russell Dubin’s fund, Highbridge Capital Management, also sold off its stock, about $6.1 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 5 funds last quarter.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX). These stocks are Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY), Vereit Inc (NYSE:VER), Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX), and Gartner Inc (NYSE:IT). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX)’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| SBNY | 25 | 424027 | -3 |
| VER | 44 | 1477635 | 0 |
| SKX | 36 | 599889 | 6 |
| IT | 16 | 173175 | 2 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 30 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $669 million. Vereit Inc (NYSE:VER) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Gartner Inc (NYSE:IT) is the least popular one with only 16 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX) is even less popular than Gartner Inc (NYSE:IT). Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.
