Hedge funds run by legendary names like Nelson Peltz and David Tepper make billions of dollars a year for themselves and their super-rich accredited investors (you’ve got to have a minimum of $1 million liquid to invest in a hedge fund) by spending enormous resources on analyzing and uncovering data about small-cap stocks that the big brokerage houses don’t follow. Small caps are where they can generate significant out-performance. That’s why we pay special attention to hedge fund activity in these stocks.
Curtiss-Wright Corp. (NYSE:CW) shares haven’t seen a lot of action during the third quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged. The stock was in 17 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. At the end of this article we will also compare CW to other stocks including Firstmerit Corp (NASDAQ:FMER), Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC), and Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Curtiss Wright Corp (NYSE:CW)
Follow Curtiss Wright Corp (NYSE:CW)
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the fresh action surrounding Curtiss-Wright Corp. (NYSE:CW).
How are hedge funds trading Curtiss-Wright Corp. (NYSE:CW)?
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, holds the largest position in Curtiss-Wright Corp. (NYSE:CW). GAMCO Investors has a $120.8 million position in the stock, comprising 0.8% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Starboard Value LP, led by Jeffrey Smith, holding a $68.9 million position; 1.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions comprise Clint Murray’s Lodge Hill Capital, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Lee Munder’s Lee Munder Capital Group.
Intriguingly, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management cut the biggest stake of all the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, valued at about $0.3 million in stock. Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s fund, Springbok Capital, also dropped its stock. These moves are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Curtiss-Wright Corp. (NYSE:CW) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Firstmerit Corp (NASDAQ:FMER), Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC), Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF), and Seadrill Ltd (NYSE:SDRL). All of these stocks’ market caps match CW’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| FMER | 12 | 52004 | 1 |
| RGC | 20 | 102936 | 1 |
| SF | 19 | 218215 | 3 |
| SDRL | 23 | 108924 | 5 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 18.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $121 million. That figure was $270 million in CW’s case. Seadrill Ltd (NYSE:SDRL) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Firstmerit Corp (NASDAQ:FMER) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. Curtiss-Wright Corp. (NYSE:CW) 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 SDRL might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
