A whopping number of 13F filings filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been processed by Insider Monkey so that individual investors can look at the overall hedge fund sentiment towards the stocks included in their watchlists. These freshly-submitted public filings disclose money managers’ equity positions as of the end of the three-month period that ended September 30, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on Vista Outdoor Inc (NYSE:VSTO) .
Vista Outdoor Inc (NYSE:VSTO) was in 21 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2016. VSTO has seen a decrease in hedge fund sentiment recently. There were 27 hedge funds in our database with VSTO positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare VSTO to other stocks including XPO Logistics Inc (NYSE:XPO), National Health Investors Inc (NYSE:NHI), and American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) to get a better sense of its popularity.
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Hedge fund activity in Vista Outdoor Inc (NYSE:VSTO)
At Q3’s end, a total of 21 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a 22% decrease from the second quarter of 2016. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards VSTO over the last 5 quarters. So, let’s check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Jeffrey Gates’ Gates Capital Management has the largest position in Vista Outdoor Inc (NYSE:VSTO), worth close to $93.2 million, amounting to 3.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is HBK Investments, led by David Costen Haley, holding a $63.8 million position. Some other peers that hold long positions include Christopher A. Winham’s Tide Point Capital, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group. We should note that Gates Capital Management is 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.
Now that we’ve mentioned the most bullish investors, let’s also take a look at some funds that cut their entire stakes in the stock during the third quarter. Interestingly, First Eagle Investment Management cut the biggest stake of the 700 funds studied by Insider Monkey, worth about $236.3 million in stock. Dmitry Balyasny’s fund, Balyasny Asset Management, also sold off its stock, about $15 million worth.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Vista Outdoor Inc (NYSE:VSTO) but similarly valued. We will take a look at XPO Logistics Inc (NYSE:XPO), National Health Investors Inc (NYSE:NHI), American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO), and ITT Corp (NYSE:ITT). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble VSTO’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| XPO | 25 | 1091398 | 9 |
| NHI | 10 | 68873 | 0 |
| AEO | 26 | 274359 | -5 |
| ITT | 17 | 181338 | 3 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 20 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $404 million. That figure was $342 million in VSTO’s case. American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand National Health Investors Inc (NYSE:NHI) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Vista Outdoor Inc (NYSE:VSTO) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard AEO might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.
Disclosure: None
