Concerns over a shift in Fed’s easy monetary policy have hit several hedge funds hard during the third quarter. A number of sectors are in correction territory. More importantly, Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) underperformed the larger S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by more than 14 percentage points between June 25, 2015 and October 30, 2015. Hedge funds and institutional investors tracked by Insider Monkey usually invest a disproportionate amount of their portfolios in smaller cap stocks. We have been receiving indications that hedge funds were paring back their overall exposure and this is one of the factors behind the recent movements in major indices. In this article, we will take a closer look at hedge fund sentiment towards Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ).
Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ) was in 17 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. CUZ investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund interest recently. There were 16 hedge funds in our database with CUZ holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare CUZ to other stocks including Moog Inc (NYSE:MOG), TerraForm Power Inc (NASDAQ:TERP), and Cabot Corp (NYSE:CBT) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ)
Follow Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ)
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Now, let’s take a glance at the recent action encompassing Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ).
What does the smart money think about Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 6% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Neil Chriss’ Hutchin Hill Capital has the most valuable position in Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ), worth close to $30.9 million, comprising 1.2% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Millennium Management, led by Israel Englander, holding a $25.6 million position; less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism encompass Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies and Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management.
As aggregate interest increased, key hedge funds have jumped into Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ) headfirst. PDT Partners, managed by Peter Muller, assembled the largest position in Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ). PDT Partners had $2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Arthur Wrubel’s Wesley Capital Management also made a $0.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new CUZ positions are Paul Tudor Jones’ Tudor Investment Corp, George Hall’s Clinton Group, and Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ). These stocks are Moog Inc (NYSE:MOG), TerraForm Power Inc (NASDAQ:TERP), Cabot Corp (NYSE:CBT), and Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC). This group of stocks’ market caps resemble CUZ’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOG | 17 | 74862 | 3 |
| TERP | 31 | 476639 | -15 |
| CBT | 28 | 145775 | -1 |
| BDC | 22 | 106931 | 9 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 24.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $201 million. That figure was $74 million in CUZ’s case. TerraForm Power Inc (NASDAQ:TERP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Moog Inc (NYSE:MOG) is the least popular one with only 17 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ) is as less popular as MOG. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, 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.
