Is Magnachip Semiconductor Corp (MX) A Good Stock To Buy?

The government requires hedge funds and wealthy investors with over a certain portfolio size to file a report that shows their positions at the end of every quarter. Even though it isn’t the intention, these filings level the playing field for ordinary investors. The latest round of 13F filings discloses the funds’ positions on September 30. We at Insider Monkey have made an extensive database of more than 700 of those elite funds and prominent investors’ filings. In this article, we analyze how these elite funds and prominent investors traded Magnachip Semiconductor Corp (NYSE:MX) based on those filings.

Magnachip Semiconductor Corp investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months. MX was in 21 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 19 hedge funds in our database with MX positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare MX to other stocks including Xactly Corp (NYSE:XTLY), Credit Suisse High Yield Bond Fund (ETF) (NYSEMKT:DHY), and Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ:BBOX) to get a better sense of its popularity.

In the financial world there are a large number of metrics shareholders use to evaluate publicly traded companies. A couple of the best metrics are hedge fund and insider trading moves. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a very impressive margin (see the details here).

Now, let’s go over the latest action regarding Magnachip Semiconductor Corp (NYSE:MX).

How have hedgies been trading Magnachip Semiconductor Corp (NYSE:MX)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 21 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 11% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Marc Lasry’s Avenue Capital has the most valuable position in Magnachip Semiconductor Corp (NYSE:MX), worth close to $26.9 million, amounting to 4.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Jonathan Lennon of Pleasant Lake Partners, with a $22.5 million position; the fund has 12% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism include Glenn W. Welling’s Engaged Capital, Don Morgan’s Brigade Capital and Charles Davidson’s Wexford Capital.

Now, specific money managers have jumped into Magnachip Semiconductor Corp (NYSE:MX) headfirst. North Run Capital, managed by Thomas Ellis and Todd Hammer, assembled the most outsized position in Magnachip Semiconductor Corp (NYSE:MX). North Run Capital had $8.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Stephen V. Raneri’s LionEye Capital Management also made a $8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Josh Goldberg’s G2 Investment Partners Management, Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital, and Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Magnachip Semiconductor Corp (NYSE:MX) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Xactly Corp (NYSE:XTLY), Credit Suisse High Yield Bond Fund (ETF) (NYSEMKT:DHY), Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ:BBOX), and Strattec Security Corp. (NASDAQ:STRT). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to MX’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 6 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $19 million. That figure was $130 million in MX’s case. Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ:BBOX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Xactly Corp (NYSE:XTLY) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Magnachip Semiconductor Corp (NYSE:MX) is more popular among hedge funds. 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.