At Insider Monkey we track the activity of some of the best-performing hedge funds like Appaloosa Management, Baupost, and Third Point because we determined that some of the stocks that they are collectively bullish on can help us generate returns above the broader indices. Out of thousands of stocks that hedge funds invest in, small-caps can provide the best returns over the long term due to the fact that these companies are less efficiently priced and are usually under the radars of mass-media, analysts and dumb money. This is why we follow the smart money moves in the small-cap space.
One company that went public during the third quarter is First Hawaiian Inc (NASDAQ:FHB). Among the funds in our database, 15 funds reported long positions in FHB as of the end of September. 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 Endesa Americas SA – ADR(NYSE:EOCA), Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE:SKT), and Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY) to gather more data points.
Follow First Hawaiian Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB)
Follow First Hawaiian Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB)
At Insider Monkey, we’ve developed an investment strategy that has delivered market-beating returns over the past 12 months. Our strategy identifies the 100 best-performing funds of the previous quarter from among the collection of 700+ successful funds that we track in our database, which we accomplish using our returns methodology. We then study the portfolios of those 100 funds using the latest 13F data to uncover the 30 most popular mid-cap stocks (market caps of between $1 billion and $10 billion) among them to hold until the next filing period. This strategy delivered 18% gains over the past 12 months, more than doubling the 8% returns enjoyed by the S&P 500 ETFs.
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Now, we’re going to take a gander at the latest action regarding First Hawaiian Inc (NASDAQ:FHB).
What does the smart money think about First Hawaiian Inc (NASDAQ:FHB)?
As stated earlier, at the end of the third quarter, a total of 15 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock. Having said that, let’s take a closer look at some funds that amassed the largest stakes in First Hawaiian.
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Governors Lane, led by Isaac Corre, holds the biggest position in First Hawaiian Inc (NASDAQ:FHB). Governors Lane has a $33.7 million position in the stock, comprising 3% of its 13F portfolio. On Governors Lane’s heels is George Soros’ Soros Fund Management, holding a $17.4 million position; the fund has 0.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other professional money managers that are bullish include Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, and Philippe Jabre’s Jabre Capital Partners. We should note that Soros Fund Management is among our list of the 100 best performing hedge funds which is based on the performance of their 13F long positions in non-microcap stocks.
On the next page, we are going to compare the hedge fund sentiment towards First Hawaiian with the one registered towards other stocks with similar market caps.
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to First Hawaiian Inc (NASDAQ:FHB). We will take a look at Endesa Americas SA – ADR(NYSE:EOCA), Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE:SKT), Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY), and Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (USA) (NYSE:RBA). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble FHB’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| EOCA | 4 | 5652 | -3 |
| SKT | 10 | 138018 | -4 |
| TDY | 13 | 125132 | 3 |
| RBA | 16 | 183842 | 5 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 11 funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $113 million, versus $93 million in FHB’s case. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (USA) (NYSE:RBA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Endesa Americas SA – ADR(NYSE:EOCA) is the least popular one with only four bullish hedge fund positions. First Hawaiian Inc (NASDAQ:FHB) 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 Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (USA) (NYSE:RBA) might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.
Disclosure: none