Looking for high-potential stocks? Just follow the big players within the hedge fund industry. Why should you do so? Let’s take a brief look at what statistics have to say about hedge funds’ stock picking abilities to illustrate. The Standard and Poor’s 500 Index returned approximately 7.6% in the 12 months ending November 21, with more than 51% of the stocks in the index failing to beat the benchmark. Therefore, the odds that one will pin down a winner by randomly picking a stock are less than the odds in a fair coin-tossing game. Conversely, best performing hedge funds’ 30 preferred mid-cap stocks generated a return of 18% during the same 12-month period. Coincidence? It might happen to be so, but it is unlikely. Our research covering a 17-year period indicates that hedge funds’ stock picks generate superior risk-adjusted returns. That’s why we believe it is wise to check hedge fund activity before you invest your time or your savings on a stock like Univar Inc (NYSE:UNVR) .
Univar Inc (NYSE:UNVR) investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately. UNVR was in 24 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2016. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with UNVR positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare UNVR to other stocks including EnerSys (NYSE:ENS), Paycom Software Inc (NYSE:PAYC), and Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE:CIM) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Univar Solutions Inc. (NYSE:UNVR)
Follow Univar Solutions Inc. (NYSE:UNVR)
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With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the fresh action surrounding Univar Inc (NYSE:UNVR).
What does the smart money think about Univar Inc (NYSE:UNVR)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 24 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a surge of 41% from one quarter earlier. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in UNVR over the last 5 quarters. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Longview Asset Management, led by James A. Star, holds the biggest position in Univar Inc (NYSE:UNVR). According to regulatory filings, the fund has a $263.3 million position in the stock, comprising 4.5% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Benjamin A. Smith of Laurion Capital Management, with a $36.2 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other professional money managers that hold long positions comprise Matthew Iorio’s White Elm Capital, Christopher A. Winham’s Tide Point Capital and John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies. We should note that none of these hedge funds are among our list of the 100 best performing hedge funds which is based on the performance of their 13F long positions in non-microcap stocks.
