Is MRC Global Inc (NYSE:MRC) a good place to invest some of your money right now? We can gain invaluable insight to help us answer that question by studying the investment trends of top investors, who employ world-class Ivy League graduates, who are given immense resources and industry contacts to put their financial expertise to work. The top picks of these firms have historically outperformed the market when we account for known risk factors, making them very valuable investment ideas.
Is MRC Global Inc (NYSE:MRC) a bargain? Money managers are reducing their bets on the stock. The number of bullish hedge fund positions were trimmed by 3 recently. MRC was in 24 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 27 hedge funds in our database with MRC positions at the end of the previous quarter. 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 AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG), Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR), and CYS Investments Inc (NYSE:CYS) to gather more data points.
Follow Mrc Global Inc. (NYSE:MRC)
Follow Mrc Global Inc. (NYSE:MRC)
In today’s marketplace there are a large number of methods investors put to use to evaluate stocks. Some of the most underrated methods are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outpace the broader indices by a significant margin (see the details here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s go over the latest action surrounding MRC Global Inc (NYSE:MRC).
How are hedge funds trading MRC Global Inc (NYSE:MRC)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 24 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a reduction of 11% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Select Equity Group, managed by Robert Joseph Caruso, holds the most valuable position in MRC Global Inc (NYSE:MRC). Select Equity Group has a $134.8 million position in the stock, comprising 1.3% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Fairholme (FAIRX), led by Bruce Berkowitz, holding a $59.4 million stake; the fund has 1.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers with similar optimism contain D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.
Judging by the fact that MRC Global Inc (NYSE:MRC) has faced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there exists a select few money managers that elected to cut their positions entirely by the end of the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Orlando Muyshondt’s Tyrian Investments cut the largest investment of the 700 funds watched by Insider Monkey, valued at close to $21.3 million in stock. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s fund, Two Sigma Advisors, also cut its investment, dropping about $12.5 million worth of shares. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds by the end of the third quarter.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to MRC Global Inc (NYSE:MRC). These stocks are AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG), Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR), CYS Investments Inc (NYSE:CYS), and Government Properties Income Trust (NYSE:GOV). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to MRC’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| AVG | 20 | 92654 | -2 |
| ACOR | 17 | 203130 | 1 |
| CYS | 8 | 5038 | 0 |
| GOV | 6 | 59473 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 13 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $90 million. In the mean time, top hedge funds have invested $332 million in MRC, more than in any other stock from this group. AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG) is the most popular stock in this table, while Government Properties Income Trust (NYSE:GOV) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks MRC Global Inc (NYSE:MRC) 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.
