The latest 13F reporting period has come and gone, and Insider Monkey is again at the forefront when it comes to making use of this gold mine of data. We have processed the filings of the more than 700 world-class investment firms that we track and now have access to the collective wisdom contained in these filings, which are based on their September 30 holdings, data that is available nowhere else. Should you consider Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTX) for your portfolio? We’ll look to this invaluable collective wisdom for the answer.
Hedge fund interest in Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTX) shares was flat at the end of last quarter. This is usually a negative indicator. 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 Oconee Federal Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OFED), EDAP TMS S.A. (NASDAQ:EDAP), and Strongbridge Biopharma plc (NASDAQ:SBBP) to gather more data points. Our calculations also showed that MNTX isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q3 rankings and see the video below for Q2 rankings).
Video: Click the image to watch our video about the top 5 most popular hedge fund stocks.
Today there are many methods market participants use to grade publicly traded companies. A pair of the most underrated methods are hedge fund and insider trading interest. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a solid margin (see the details here).
Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates
We leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example Europe is set to become the world’s largest cannabis market, so we check out this European marijuana stock pitch. One of the most bullish analysts in America just put his money where his mouth is. He says, “I’m investing more today than I did back in early 2009.” So we check out his pitch. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. We also rely on the best performing hedge funds‘ buy/sell signals. Let’s go over the recent hedge fund action surrounding Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTX).
What have hedge funds been doing with Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTX)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 8 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. On the other hand, there were a total of 6 hedge funds with a bullish position in MNTX a year ago. So, let’s see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTX) was held by Rutabaga Capital Management, which reported holding $5.3 million worth of stock at the end of September. It was followed by Royce & Associates with a $2.6 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Cannell Capital, Potrero Capital Research, and Beddow Capital Management. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Rutabaga Capital Management allocated the biggest weight to Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTX), around 1.87% of its 13F portfolio. Cannell Capital is also relatively very bullish on the stock, designating 0.46 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to MNTX.
Judging by the fact that Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTX) has experienced bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of hedgies that decided to sell off their full holdings in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management sold off the biggest stake of the 750 funds watched by Insider Monkey, totaling about $0.6 million in stock, and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $0.1 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTX). We will take a look at Oconee Federal Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OFED), EDAP TMS S.A. (NASDAQ:EDAP), Strongbridge Biopharma plc (NASDAQ:SBBP), and Ion Geophysical Corporation (NYSE:IO). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to MNTX’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| OFED | 2 | 696 | 0 |
| EDAP | 6 | 5510 | 2 |
| SBBP | 9 | 23435 | -1 |
| IO | 6 | 14738 | -1 |
| Average | 5.75 | 11095 | 0 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 5.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $11 million. That figure was $11 million in MNTX’s case. Strongbridge Biopharma plc (NASDAQ:SBBP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Oconee Federal Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OFED) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTX) 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. Our calculations showed that top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 37.4% in 2019 through the end of November and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 9.9 percentage points. Unfortunately MNTX wasn’t nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on MNTX were disappointed as the stock returned -19.5% during the fourth quarter (through the end of November) and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds as many of these stocks already outperformed the market so far this year.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
