Out of thousands of stocks that are currently traded on the market, it is difficult to determine those that can really generate strong returns. Hedge funds and institutional investors spend millions of dollars on analysts with MBAs and PhDs, who are industry experts and well connected to other industry and media insiders on top of that. Individual investors can piggyback the hedge funds employing these talents and can benefit from their vast resources and knowledge in that way. We analyze quarterly 13F filings of over 700 hedge funds and, by looking at the smart money sentiment that surrounds a stock, we can determine whether it has potential to beat the market over the long-term. Therefore, let’s take a closer look at what smart money thinks about Performance Food Group Company (NYSE:PFGC).
Performance Food Group Company (NYSE:PFGC) has seen an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately. PFGC was in 23 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 18 hedge funds in our database with PFGC positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that PFGC isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
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Let’s go over the new hedge fund action encompassing Performance Food Group Company (NYSE:PFGC).
How have hedgies been trading Performance Food Group Company (NYSE:PFGC)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 23 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 28% from the previous quarter. By comparison, 16 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in PFGC heading into this year. So, let’s see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
More specifically, GLG Partners was the largest shareholder of Performance Food Group Company (NYSE:PFGC), with a stake worth $27.8 million reported as of the end of September. Trailing GLG Partners was D E Shaw, which amassed a stake valued at $24.4 million. Renaissance Technologies, Two Sigma Advisors, and Millennium Management were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key money managers have jumped into Performance Food Group Company (NYSE:PFGC) headfirst. Interval Partners, managed by Gregg Moskowitz, created the largest position in Performance Food Group Company (NYSE:PFGC). Interval Partners had $20.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ian Simm’s Impax Asset Management also initiated a $7.5 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new PFGC investors: Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Performance Food Group Company (NYSE:PFGC). We will take a look at John Wiley & Sons Inc (NYSE:JW), Alteryx, Inc. (NYSE:AYX), RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI), and Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (NASDAQ:SFM). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble PFGC’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| JW | 15 | 138842 | -7 |
| AYX | 26 | 681553 | 8 |
| RLI | 11 | 163038 | 1 |
| SFM | 19 | 298608 | 3 |
| Average | 17.75 | 320510 | 1.25 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 17.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $321 million. That figure was $225 million in PFGC’s case. Alteryx, Inc. (NYSE:AYX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Performance Food Group Company (NYSE:PFGC) 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 AYX might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
