Is Cardtronics PLC (CATM) Good Stock To Buy?

The elite funds run by legendary investors such as Dan Loeb and David Tepper make hundreds of millions of dollars for themselves and their investors by spending enormous resources doing research on small cap stocks that big investment banks don’t follow. Because of their pay structures, they have strong incentive to do the research necessary to beat the market. That’s why we pay close attention to what they think in small cap stocks. In this article, we take a closer look at Cardtronics PLC (NASDAQ:CATM) from the perspective of those elite funds.

Cardtronics PLC (NASDAQ:CATM) shareholders have witnessed an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately. CATM was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with CATM holdings 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 GATX Corporation (NYSE:GATX), Taylor Morrison Home Corp (NYSE:TMHC), and Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR) to gather more data points.

Follow Cardtronics Inc (NASDAQ:CATM)

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With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the fresh action encompassing Cardtronics PLC (NASDAQ:CATM).

What have hedge funds been doing with Cardtronics PLC (NASDAQ:CATM)?

At Q3’s end, a total of 19 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a boost of 36% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

HedgeFundSentimentChart

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies has the biggest position in Cardtronics PLC (NASDAQ:CATM), worth close to $15.4 million, accounting for less than 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Pine River Capital Management, run by Brian Taylor, which holds a $8.6 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other members of the smart money that hold long positions encompass Nick Niell’s Arrowgrass Capital Partners, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management.


Consequently, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Fisher Asset Management, led by Ken Fisher, established the biggest position in Cardtronics PLC (NASDAQ:CATM). According to its latest 13F filing, the fund had $4.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management also made a $4.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, George Hall’s Clinton Group, and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Cardtronics PLC (NASDAQ:CATM). We will take a look at GATX Corporation (NYSE:GATX), Taylor Morrison Home Corp (NYSE:TMHC), Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR), and John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble CATM’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
GATX 11 174818 -1
TMHC 9 14259 1
MLHR 16 104315 -4
JBT 15 84342 -5

As you can see these stocks had an average of 13 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $94 million. That figure was $61 million in CATM’s case. Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Taylor Morrison Home Corp (NYSE:TMHC) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Cardtronics PLC (NASDAQ:CATM) 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.

Disclosure: none.