Is Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) a good investment right now? We check hedge fund and billionaire investor sentiment before delving into hours of research. Hedge funds spend millions of dollars on Ivy League graduates, expert networks, and get tips from industry insiders. They fail miserably sometimes, but historically their consensus stock picks outperformed the market after adjusting for known risk factors.
Is Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) a bargain? The best stock pickers are in an optimistic mood. The number of long hedge fund positions improved by 2 recently. 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 NASDAQ, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ), Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL), and Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) to gather more data points.
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In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are perceived as unimportant, old investment tools of the past. While there are over 8000 funds in operation at present, Experts at Insider Monkey, a website specializing in hedge funds, hone in on the elite of this group, approximately 700 funds. These money managers manage bulk of the smart money’s total asset base, and by observing their best investments, Insider Monkey has discovered a number of investment strategies that have historically outperformed Mr. Market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy surpassed the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points per annum for a decade in their back tests.
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the recent action surrounding Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS).
What have hedge funds been doing with Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 22 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, an increase of 10% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, Winton Capital Management, led by David Harding, holds the number one position in Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS). Winton Capital Management has a $54.6 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is AQR Capital Management, led by Cliff Asness, holding a $51.9 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish contain Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Tom Gayner’s Markel Gayner Asset Management and Curtis Macnguyen’s Ivory Capital (Investment Mgmt).
As industrywide interest jumped, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Two Sigma Advisors, managed by John Overdeck and David Siegel, initiated the most outsized position in Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS). Two Sigma Advisors had $9.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Chanos’s Kynikos also initiated a $6.8 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new HAS investors: Brad Dunkley and Blair Levinsky’s Waratah Capital Advisors, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, and Andrew Feldstein and Stephen Siderow’s Blue Mountain Capital.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS). We will take a look at NASDAQ, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ), Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL), Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC), and Dover Corp (NYSE:DOV). This group of stocks’ market values match Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| NDAQ | 15 | 126680 | -5 |
| ACGL | 15 | 716128 | 0 |
| CVC | 36 | 1772442 | 12 |
| DOV | 25 | 430085 | -1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 23 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $761 million. Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) is the most popular stock in this table and, therefore, might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
