Most Popular Japanese ADRs Among Hedge Funds

#3 Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (ADR) (NYSE:MTU)

– Investors with long positions (as of March 31): 12

– Aggregate value of investors’ holdings (as of March 31): $78.81 million

Moving on, the ownership of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (ADR) (NYSE:MTU) among funds tracked by us inched up by two, but the aggregate value of their holdings in it fell by almost $20 million during the first quarter. Funds that upped their stake in the company during that time included billionaire Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management, which brought its holding up by 21% to 7.76 million shares and the fund further raised its stake by 10% to 8.50 million shares during the second quarter. The bank holding company came out with better-than-expected results for the last reported quarter, but the stock is still trading 18% in the red year-to-date. A lot of analysts think that trading at a trailing price-to-earnings multiple of only 7.17 and an excessively low price-to-book ratio of 0.49, shares of the bank holding company are severely undervalued at present levels and can represent a good risk-reward opportunity for value investors.

#2 Toyota Motor Corp (ADR) (NYSE:TM)

– Investors with long positions (as of March 31): 12

– Aggregate value of investors’ holdings (as of March 31): $269.37 million

Though the number of hedge funds tracked by us long Toyota Motor Corp (ADR)(NYSE:TM) came down by one and shares of the car maker dropped 13.6% during the first quarter, the aggregate value of hedge funds’ holdings in the company went up during that period, by 16.88%. Notable investors that reduced their stake in Toyota Motor Corp (ADR) (NYSE:TM) during the first quarter included  Jim Chanos‘ Kynikos, which cut its holding by 9% to 42,022 shares. Shares of the automobile giant made their lifetime high above the $140 mark in March last year, but have been on a gradual decline ever since and are currently trading down by more than 9% year-to-date. The company’s US sales in June slid by 5.6% on the year to 198,257 units, with both Toyota and Lexus divisions registering declines of -6.2% and -5.1%. However, Toyota’s car registrations in Europe advanced by 6.7% to 59,000 units in June.

#1 Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE)

– Investors with long positions (as of March 31): 18

– Aggregate value of investors’ holdings (as of March 31): $279.52 million

Sony Corp (ADR)(NYSE:SNE) is the only stock in this list that is trading in the green for 2016, up by 36% year-to-date. It continued to remain the most popular Japanese stock among the investors in our database at the end of the first quarter, despite its ownership among funds covered by us inching down by two and the aggregate value of their holdings falling by $63 million. . Billionaire Mario Gabelli‘s GAMCO Investors lowered its stake in the company marginally by 3% to 5.86 million shares during the first quarter. The company has recently reported its financial results for the first fiscal quarter, posting EPS of JPY 16.44 ($0.16), down by 76.6% on the year, while its net sales slid by 9.3% on the year to JPY 1,362.5 billion ($13.2 billion). The decline in earnings was mainly attributed to chargers related to Sony’s semiconductors segment after the Kumamoto earthquakes, as well as by currency headwinds.

Disclosure: None