With the third-quarter round of 13F filings behind us it is time to take a look at the stocks in which some of the best money managers in the world preferred to invest or sell heading into the fourth quarter. One of these stocks was Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL).
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) was in 42 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2018. RCL has experienced an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently, though it widely missed our countdown of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. However, it did fare far better among the 20 Dividend Stocks That Billionaires Are Piling On, ranking 17th. Billionaire money managers were extremely bullish on Royal Caribbean in Q3, as the value of their holdings nearly doubled to $1.09 billion.
At the moment there are several indicators market participants put to use to size up their stock investments. Two of the less utilized indicators are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can trounce the market by a significant amount (see the details here).
How are hedge funds trading Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 42 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a rise of 11% from one quarter earlier. By comparison, 42 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in RCL heading into this year. So, let’s check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) was held by Citadel Investment Group, which reported holding $416.6 million worth of stock at the end of September. It was followed by Melvin Capital Management with a $210.9 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included D E Shaw, Millennium Management, and Point72 Asset Management.
As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds have jumped into Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) headfirst. Highline Capital Management, managed by Jacob Doft, established the most valuable position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL). Highline Capital Management had $104.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors also made a $50.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new RCL positions are Zach Schreiber’s Point State Capital, Robert Pohly’s Samlyn Capital, and Ryan Frick and Oliver Evans’ Dorsal Capital Management.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) but similarly valued. We will take a look at CRH PLC (NYSE:CRH), Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc (NYSE:ZBH), Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE:PEG), and Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to RCL’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| CRH | 7 | 42283 | 1 |
| ZBH | 40 | 1596234 | 5 |
| PEG | 27 | 774639 | 9 |
| S | 20 | 433099 | 6 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 24 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $712 million. That figure was $2.21 billion in RCL’s case. Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc (NYSE:ZBH) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand CRH PLC (NYSE:CRH) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) 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.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
