The worries about the election and the ongoing uncertainty about the path of interest-rate increases have been keeping investors on the sidelines. Of course, most hedge funds and other asset managers have been underperforming main stock market indices since the middle of 2015. Interestingly though, smaller-cap stocks registered their best performance relative to the large-capitalization stocks since the end of the June quarter, suggesting that this may be the best time to take a cue from their stock picks. In fact, the Russell 2000 Index gained more than 15% since the beginning of the third quarter, while the Standard and Poor’s 500 benchmark returned less than 6%. This article will lay out and discuss the hedge fund and institutional investor sentiment towards Maiden Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MHLD) .
Maiden Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MHLD) has seen an increase in support from the world’s most successful money managers recently. MHLD was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2016. There were 10 hedge funds in our database with MHLD holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare MHLD to other stocks including Zhaopin Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ZPIN), Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL), and Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Maiden Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ:MHLD)
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Hedge fund activity in Maiden Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MHLD)
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, an increase of 30% from the previous quarter. On the other hand, there were a total of 12 hedge funds with a bullish position in MHLD at the beginning of this year. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Rutabaga Capital Management, led by Peter Schliemann, holds the largest position in Maiden Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MHLD). Rutabaga Capital Management has a $17.4 million position in the stock, comprising 3.5% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, with a $5.8 million position. Remaining professional money managers that hold long positions encompass John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies and Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management. 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.
As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Highbridge Capital Management, led by Glenn Russell Dubin, established the biggest position in Maiden Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MHLD). Highbridge Capital Management had $1.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management also initiated a $0.3 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Mike Vranos’ Ellington and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Maiden Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MHLD) but similarly valued. These stocks are Zhaopin Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ZPIN), Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL), Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK), and ScanSource, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCSC). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to MHLD’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZPIN | 4 | 8590 | -2 |
| FINL | 21 | 29157 | 0 |
| CPK | 10 | 43970 | -2 |
| SCSC | 11 | 68151 | -6 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 12 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $37 million. That figure was $42 million in MHLD’s case. Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Zhaopin Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ZPIN) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Maiden Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MHLD) 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 FINL might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.
Disclosure: None
