We at Insider Monkey have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the government. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article we look at what those investors think of Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR).
Is Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR) a great investment today? Money managers are taking a bullish view. The number of long hedge fund bets inched up by 5 recently. RGR was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with RGR 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 Forum Energy Technologies Inc (NYSE:FET), Forward Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:FWP), and Insperity Inc (NYSE:NSP) to gather more data points.
Follow Sturm Ruger & Co Inc (NYSE:RGR)
Follow Sturm Ruger & Co Inc (NYSE:RGR)
To the average investor, there are many signals investors put to use to analyze publicly traded companies. Some of the most under-the-radar signals are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can outpace the market by a healthy margin (see the details here).
With all of this in mind, we’re going to check out the recent action encompassing Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR).
What does the smart money think about Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 56% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management has the most valuable call position in Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR), worth close to $8.2 million, amounting to less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Christopher A. Winham’s Tide Point Capital, with a $7 million position; 0.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers that hold long positions comprise D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Tide Point Capital created the most outsized position in Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR). Renaissance Technologies also initiated a $2.8 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new RGR positions are Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, Paul Tudor Jones’ Tudor Investment Corp, and Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Forum Energy Technologies Inc (NYSE:FET), Forward Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:FWP), Insperity Inc (NYSE:NSP), and Actuant Corporation (NYSE:ATU). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to RGR’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| FET | 12 | 41559 | -7 |
| FWP | 11 | 218134 | -3 |
| NSP | 25 | 335811 | 1 |
| ATU | 14 | 194833 | -6 |
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 $198 million. That figure was just $31 million in RGR’s case. Insperity Inc (NYSE:NSP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Forward Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:FWP) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR) 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 NSP might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
