Should You Avoid VF Corp (VFC)?

A whopping number of 13F filings filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been processed by Insider Monkey so that individual investors can look at the overall hedge fund sentiment towards the stocks included in their watchlists. These freshly-submitted public filings disclose money managers’ equity positions as of the end of the three-month period that ended September 30, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on VF Corp (NYSE:VFC).

Is VF Corp (NYSE:VFC) a buy here? Prominent investors are in a bearish mood. The number of long hedge fund bets shrunk by 1 lately. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL), Deere & Company (NYSE:DE), and Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) to gather more data points.

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What have hedge funds been doing with VF Corp (NYSE:VFC)?

Heading into the fourth quarter of 2016, a total of 22 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a decline of 4% from the second quarter of 2016. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital has the biggest position in VF Corp (NYSE:VFC), worth close to $166.5 million, accounting for 1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Citadel Investment Group, led by Ken Griffin, holding a $83.4 million position. Some other professional money managers that are bullish consist of Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group, Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates and Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies.