Is Southwest Bancorp, Inc. (OKSB) Worth An Investment?

After several tireless days we have finished crunching the numbers from the more than 700 13F filings issued by the elite hedge funds and other investment firms that we track at Insider Monkey, which disclosed those firms’ equity portfolios as of September 30. The results of that effort will be put on display in this article, as we share valuable insight into the smart money sentiment towards Southwest Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKSB).

After fairly steady gains throughout the first half of the year, shares of Southwest Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKSB) slid by over 11% in the third quarter. In instances like this, we like to see how top hedge funds react, as it can be seen as a very bullish sign if they are buying when others are selling. However, there was a slight decrease in their ownership of OKSB, which was in the portfolios of 7 hedge funds in our database at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 8 hedge funds in our database with OKSB positions at the end of the second quarter. Their overall share ownership witnessed a slight uptick however, so those who stuck with the stock appear to be confident in it.

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 Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVID), National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA), and Phoenix New Media Ltd ADR (NYSE:FENG) to gather more data points.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit there are numerous gauges stock traders put to use to size up their stock investments. A duo of the most innovative gauges are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see the details here).

With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a glance at the latest action encompassing Southwest Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKSB).

What have hedge funds been doing with Southwest Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKSB)?

Heading into Q4, a total of 7 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a 13% dip from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably (or had already accumulated large positions).

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Polaris Capital Management, managed by Bernard Horn, holds the most valuable position in Southwest Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKSB). Polaris Capital Management has a $13.1 million position in the stock, comprising 1.6% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting in the 2 spot is Renaissance Technologies, with a $2.7 million position; the fund has less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism consist of D E Shaw, Peter Muller’s PDT Partners, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Judging by the fact that Southwest Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKSB) has witnessed falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there is a sect of funds that decided to sell off their entire stakes last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management dropped the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds monitored by Insider Monkey, totaling close to $0.7 million in stock. Ken Griffin’s fund, Citadel Investment Group, also dumped its stock, about $0.7 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 fund last quarter.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Southwest Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKSB) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVID), National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA), Phoenix New Media Ltd ADR (NYSE:FENG), and Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to OKSB’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 11 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $56 million. That figure was $21 million in OKSB’s case. Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVID) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Phoenix New Media Ltd ADR (NYSE:FENG) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Southwest Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKSB) 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 AVID might be a better candidate to consider for a long position.