A whopping number of 13F filings filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been processed by Insider Monkey so that individual investors can look at the overall hedge fund sentiment towards the stocks included in their watchlists. These freshly-submitted public filings disclose money managers’ equity positions as of the end of the three-month period that ended September 30, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE).
Is Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) an attractive stock to buy now? Money managers are unfortunately turning less bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund bets were cut by 2 recently. At the end of this article we will also compare CE to other stocks including Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX), Philippine Long Distance Telephone (ADR) (NYSE:PHI), and Xerox Corporation (NYSE:XRX) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Celanese Corp (NYSE:CE)
Follow Celanese Corp (NYSE:CE)
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Now, we’re going to take a look at the recent action encompassing Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE).
What does the smart money think about Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 31 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a drop of 6% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, GMT Capital, managed by Thomas E. Claugus, holds the largest position in Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE). GMT Capital has a $316.7 million position in the stock, comprising 6.5% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $113.2 million position. Remaining peers that are bullish include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Since Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) has witnessed declining sentiment from the smart money, we can see that there exists a select few funds that elected to cut their full holdings by the end of the third quarter. Interestingly, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management said goodbye to the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds watched by Insider Monkey, valued at about $6.2 million in stock. Malcolm Fairbairn’s fund, Ascend Capital, also dumped its stock, about $4.9 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds by the end of the third quarter.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE). These stocks are Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX), Philippine Long Distance Telephone (ADR) (NYSE:PHI), Xerox Corporation (NYSE:XRX), and CarMax, Inc (NYSE:KMX). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to CE’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| HOLX | 33 | 812836 | -2 |
| PHI | 4 | 90945 | -2 |
| XRX | 32 | 1494920 | 1 |
| KMX | 34 | 978977 | 13 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 26 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $844 million. That figure was $817 million in CE’s case. CarMax, Inc (NYSE:KMX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Philippine Long Distance Telephone (ADR) (NYSE:PHI) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard KMX might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
Disclosure: None
