Legendary investors such as Leon Cooperman and Seth Klarman earn enormous amounts of money for themselves and their investors by doing in-depth research on small-cap stocks that big brokerage houses don’t publish. Small cap stocks -especially when they are screened well- can generate substantial outperformance versus a boring index fund. That’s why we analyze the activity of those elite funds in these small-cap stocks. In the following paragraphs, we analyze Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA) from the perspective of those elite funds.
Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA) has seen an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late. At the end of this article we will also compare GVA to other stocks including Potlatch Corporation (NASDAQ:PCH), Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc (NYSE:HY), and Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Granite Construction Inc (NYSE:GVA)
Follow Granite Construction Inc (NYSE:GVA)
To the average investor, there are a multitude of metrics stock traders put to use to analyze their holdings. Two of the best metrics are hedge fund and insider trading activity. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a healthy margin (see the details here).
Now, let’s view the latest action regarding Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA).
Hedge fund activity in Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA)
At Q3’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, up by 21% from the second quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management has the most valuable position in Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA), worth close to $24.3 million, corresponding to 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Rutabaga Capital Management, led by Peter Schliemann, holding a $22.3 million position; 2.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining professional money managers that are bullish consist of Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
As aggregate interest increased, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Point72 Asset Management, managed by Steve Cohen, created the largest position in Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA), worth approximately $24.3 million at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also made a $1.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new GVA investors: Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital, Michael Platt and William Reeves’s BlueCrest Capital Mgmt., and Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Potlatch Corporation (NASDAQ:PCH), Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc (NYSE:HY), Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE), and Milacron Holdings Corp (NYSE:MCRN). All of these stocks’ market caps are closest to GVA’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCH | 13 | 64274 | 3 |
| HY | 13 | 40645 | 0 |
| PLCE | 11 | 184701 | -8 |
| MCRN | 11 | 67284 | -5 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 12 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $89 million. That figure was just $59 million in GVA’s case. Potlatch Corporation (NASDAQ:PCH) and Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc (NYSE:HY) have both attracted the attention of 13 elite funds, while Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) and Milacron Holdings Corp (NYSE:MCRN) can be found in the portfolios of 11 top funds. With 17 long hedge fund positions, Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA) clearly outshines the lot. 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.
