Hedge funds run by legendary names like Nelson Peltz and David Tepper make billions of dollars a year for themselves and their super-rich accredited investors (you’ve got to have a minimum of $1 million liquid to invest in a hedge fund) by spending enormous resources on analyzing and uncovering data about small-cap stocks that the big brokerage houses don’t follow. Small caps are where they can generate significant out-performance. That’s why we pay special attention to hedge fund activity in these stocks.
Is VWR Corp (NASDAQ:VWR) a bargain? Hedge funds are turning less bullish. The number of long hedge fund bets dropped by 2 lately. VWR was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 21 hedge funds in our database with VWR positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare VWR to other stocks including SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE:SNX), WEX Inc (NYSE:WEX), and MDU Resources Group Inc (NYSE:MDU) to get a better sense of its popularity.
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With all of this in mind, let’s review the key action encompassing VWR Corp (NASDAQ:VWR).
How are hedge funds trading VWR Corp (NASDAQ:VWR)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 19 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -10% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group has the largest position in VWR Corp (NASDAQ:VWR), worth close to $31.9 million, accounting for less than 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Crescent Park Management, led by Eli Cohen, holding a $31.6 million position; the fund has 7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other professional money managers that hold long positions contain Jay Petschek and Steven Major’s Corsair Capital Management, D E Shaw and John Croghan and Richard Fradin’s Rail-Splitter Capital Management.
Due to the fact that VWR Corp (NASDAQ:VWR) has faced a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of hedgies who were dropping their positions entirely last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that David Rodriguez-Fraile’s BlueMar Capital Management said goodbye to the largest position of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, comprising close to $6.7 million in stock, and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $6 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds last quarter.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to VWR Corp (NASDAQ:VWR). These stocks are SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE:SNX), WEX Inc (NYSE:WEX), MDU Resources Group Inc (NYSE:MDU), and Braskem SA (ADR) (NYSE:BAK). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to VWR’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| SNX | 11 | 36648 | -2 |
| WEX | 16 | 170318 | 3 |
| MDU | 11 | 14595 | 1 |
| BAK | 5 | 9695 | 1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 10.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $58 million. That figure was $120 million in VWR’s case. WEX Inc (NYSE:WEX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Braskem SA (ADR) (NYSE:BAK) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks VWR Corp (NASDAQ:VWR) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.