After several tireless days we have finished crunching the numbers from the more than 700 13F filings issued by the elite hedge funds and other investment firms that we track at Insider Monkey, which disclosed those firms’ equity portfolios as of September 30. The results of that effort will be put on display in this article, as we share valuable insight into the smart money sentiment towards FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT).
FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT) investors should be aware of an increase in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months. Our calculations also showed that flt isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the financial world there are a large number of tools investors have at their disposal to grade stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid amount. Insider Monkey’s flagship best performing hedge funds strategy returned 6.3% year to date (through December 3rd) and outperformed the market even though it draws its stock picks among small-cap stocks. This strategy also outperformed the market by 18 percentage points since its inception (see the details here). That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is a useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
We’re going to take a gander at the latest hedge fund action encompassing FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT).
What does the smart money think about FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT)?
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2018, a total of 37 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 12% from one quarter earlier. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards FLT over the last 13 quarters. So, let’s check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds, Steadfast Capital Management held the most valuable stake in FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT), which was worth $279.7 million at the end of the third quarter. On the second spot was Tiger Global Management LLC which amassed $255.4 million worth of shares. Moreover, 12 West Capital Management, Lone Pine Capital, and Kensico Capital were also bullish on FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT), allocating a large percentage of their portfolios to this stock.
Now, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Criterion Capital, managed by Christopher Lord, assembled the largest position in FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT). Criterion Capital had $34.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital also initiated a $19 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new FLT investors: Peter Seuss’s Prana Capital Management, Paul Holland and Matthew Miller’s Glaxis Capital Management, and Joseph Mathias’s Concourse Capital Management.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT). We will take a look at Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (NASDAQ:CTRP), International Paper Company (NYSE:IP), Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE), and W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW). All of these stocks’ market caps are closest to FLT’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| CTRP | 19 | 1160299 | -12 |
| IP | 28 | 327944 | 7 |
| NUE | 31 | 553668 | 2 |
| GWW | 30 | 617996 | 7 |
| Average | 27 | 664977 | 1 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 27 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $665 million. That figure was $1.37 billion in FLT’s case. Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (NASDAQ:CTRP) is the least popular one with only 19 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
