Is Smart Money Keen On FCB Financial Holdings Inc (FCB)?

Hedge funds and other investment firms that we track manage billions of dollars of their wealthy clients’ money, and needless to say, they are painstakingly thorough when analyzing where to invest this money, as their own wealth depends on it. Regardless of the various methods used by elite investors like David Tepper and Dan Loeb, the resources they expend are second-to-none. This is especially valuable when it comes to small-cap stocks, which is where they generate their strongest outperformance, as their resources give them a huge edge when it comes to studying these stocks compared to the average investor, which is why we intently follow their activity in the small-cap space.

FCB Financial Holdings Inc (NYSE:FCB) investors should be aware of an increase in enthusiasm from smart money recently. At the end of this article we will also compare FCB to other stocks including Nordic American Tanker Ltd (NYSE:NAT), DBV Technologies SA – ADR (NASDAQ:DBVT), and Coherent, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHR) to get a better sense of its popularity.

In today’s marketplace there are a lot of formulas stock traders have at their disposal to evaluate stocks. Some of the most useful formulas are hedge fund and insider trading signals. we have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a solid margin (see the details here).

Now, we’re going to analyze the key action surrounding FCB Financial Holdings Inc (NYSE:FCB).

What does the smart money think about FCB Financial Holdings Inc (NYSE:FCB)?

Heading into Q4, a total of 22 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 47% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Elliott Management, managed by Paul Singer, holds the number one position in FCB Financial Holdings Inc (NYSE:FCB). Elliott Management has a $71.2 million position in the stock, comprising 1.4% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Omega Advisors, led by Leon Cooperman, holding an $49.5 million position; 1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other professional money managers with similar optimism comprise Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Paritosh Gupta’s Adi Capital Management and Frank Brosens’s Taconic Capital.

As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Elizabeth Park Capital Management, managed by Fred Cummings, created the largest position in FCB Financial Holdings Inc (NYSE:FCB). Elizabeth Park Capital Management had $7.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management also made a $3.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new FCB positions are John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Michael Platt and William Reeves’s BlueCrest Capital Mgmt., and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to FCB Financial Holdings Inc (NYSE:FCB). We will take a look at Nordic American Tanker Ltd (NYSE:NAT), DBV Technologies SA – ADR (NASDAQ:DBVT), Coherent, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHR), and Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO). This group of stocks’ market caps match FCB’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $151 million. Compared to these stocks, FCB Financial Holdings Inc (NYSE:FCB) is not just more popular among hedge funds, but they also amassed $201 million worth of its stock heading into the fourth quarter. Therefore, it may be a good idea to take a closer look at FCB and see if it is worth being added to your portfolio.