The latest 13F reporting period has come and gone, and Insider Monkey is again at the forefront when it comes to making use of this gold mine of data. We at Insider Monkey have plowed through 752 13F filings that hedge funds and well-known value investors are required to file by the SEC. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30th. In this article we look at what those investors think of The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN).
The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN) was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. HAIN has seen an increase in hedge fund sentiment recently. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with HAIN positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that HAIN isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q3 rankings and see the video below for Q2 rankings).
Video: Click the image to watch our video about the top 5 most popular hedge fund stocks.
In today’s marketplace there are numerous gauges stock traders employ to analyze stocks. A duo of the most underrated gauges are hedge fund and insider trading interest. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a superb amount (see the details here).
Mario Gabelli of GAMCO Investors
We leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example Europe is set to become the world’s largest cannabis market, so we check out this European marijuana stock pitch. One of the most bullish analysts in America just put his money where his mouth is. He says, “I’m investing more today than I did back in early 2009.” So we check out his pitch. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. We also rely on the best performing hedge funds‘ buy/sell signals. We’re going to take a look at the recent hedge fund action surrounding The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN).
How are hedge funds trading The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN)?
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2019, a total of 19 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 12% from the second quarter of 2019. By comparison, 23 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in HAIN a year ago. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
Among these funds, Engaged Capital held the most valuable stake in The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN), which was worth $452.5 million at the end of the third quarter. On the second spot was Armistice Capital which amassed $36.5 million worth of shares. GAMCO Investors, Sessa Capital, and Citadel Investment Group were also very fond of the stock, becoming one of the largest hedge fund holders of the company. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Engaged Capital allocated the biggest weight to The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN), around 61.46% of its 13F portfolio. Proxima Capital Management is also relatively very bullish on the stock, earmarking 13.22 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to HAIN.
As industrywide interest jumped, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Laurion Capital Management, managed by Benjamin A. Smith, created the biggest position in The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN). Laurion Capital Management had $1.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital also made a $0.9 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new HAIN investors: Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Renee Yao’s Neo Ivy Capital, and Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN). These stocks are TeleTech Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTEC), Chart Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:GTLS), Sanmina Corporation (NASDAQ:SANM), and Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to HAIN’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| TTEC | 14 | 41238 | -3 |
| GTLS | 19 | 261236 | -5 |
| SANM | 20 | 211992 | 2 |
| FELE | 11 | 216330 | -3 |
| Average | 16 | 182699 | -2.25 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
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 $183 million. That figure was $546 million in HAIN’s case. Sanmina Corporation (NASDAQ:SANM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our calculations showed that top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 37.4% in 2019 through the end of November and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 9.9 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on HAIN as the stock returned 15.1% during the fourth quarter (through the end of November) and outperformed the market. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
