With the first-quarter round of 13F filings behind us it is time to take a look at the stocks in which some of the best money managers in the world preferred to invest or sell heading into the second quarter. One of these stocks was Wyndham Destinations, Inc. (NYSE:WYND).
Wyndham Destinations, Inc. (NYSE:WYND) has seen a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately. Our calculations also showed that WYND isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (view the video below).
Video: Click the image to watch our video about the top 5 most popular hedge fund stocks.
In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are assumed to be underperforming, old financial tools of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation at present, Our experts hone in on the masters of this group, about 750 funds. It is estimated that this group of investors oversee the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by paying attention to their top equity investments, Insider Monkey has unearthed numerous investment strategies that have historically outpaced the market. Insider Monkey’s flagship hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by around 5 percentage points per year since its inception in May 2014. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 25.7% since February 2017 (through September 30th) even though the market was up more than 33% during the same period. We just shared a list of 10 short targets in our latest quarterly update .
Unlike former hedge manager, Dr. Steve Sjuggerud, who is convinced Dow will soar past 40000, our long-short investment strategy doesn’t rely on bull markets to deliver double digit returns. We only rely on hedge fund buy/sell signals. We’re going to check out the new hedge fund action encompassing Wyndham Destinations, Inc. (NYSE:WYND).
What does smart money think about Wyndham Destinations, Inc. (NYSE:WYND)?
At the end of the second quarter, a total of 22 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of -12% from the first quarter of 2019. On the other hand, there were a total of 29 hedge funds with a bullish position in WYND a year ago. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
The largest stake in Wyndham Destinations, Inc. (NYSE:WYND) was held by Iridian Asset Management, which reported holding $310.7 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by Tremblant Capital with a $53.5 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Arrowstreet Capital, GLG Partners, and D E Shaw.
Seeing as Wyndham Destinations, Inc. (NYSE:WYND) has faced falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few hedge funds that decided to sell off their positions entirely by the end of the second quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Renaissance Technologies dumped the biggest stake of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, worth an estimated $9.9 million in stock, and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $2.7 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds by the end of the second quarter.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Wyndham Destinations, Inc. (NYSE:WYND) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF), Ardagh Group S.A. (NYSE:ARD), RBC Bearings Incorporated (NASDAQ:ROLL), and Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to WYND’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| BHF | 23 | 417281 | -8 |
| ARD | 11 | 72786 | -1 |
| ROLL | 6 | 59579 | -5 |
| GPK | 30 | 534112 | 6 |
| Average | 17.5 | 270940 | -2 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 17.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $271 million. That figure was $457 million in WYND’s case. Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand RBC Bearings Incorporated (NASDAQ:ROLL) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. Wyndham Destinations, Inc. (NYSE:WYND) 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 24.4% in 2019 through September 30th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 4 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on WYND as the stock returned 5.8% during the third quarter and outperformed the market. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
