Now, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Renaissance Technologies, founded by billionaire Jim Simons, created the most valuable position in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL). Renaissance Technologies had $14 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s quant hedge fund Two Sigma Advisors also made a $2.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new POOL investors: Mike Vranos’ Ellington, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, and Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) but similarly valued. These stocks are Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR), Navient Corp (NASDAQ:NAVI), Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX), and USG Corporation (NYSE:USG). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to POOL’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| CFR | 13 | 65558 | -1 |
| NAVI | 30 | 366851 | -2 |
| NBIX | 39 | 635917 | 0 |
| USG | 26 | 1388098 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 27 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $614 million. That figure was $205 million in POOL’s case. Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard NBIX might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.
