Hedge funds run by legendary names like Nelson Peltz and David Tepper make billions of dollars a year for themselves and their super-rich accredited investors (you’ve got to have a minimum of $1 million liquid to invest in a hedge fund) by spending enormous resources on analyzing and uncovering data about small-cap stocks that the big brokerage houses don’t follow. Small caps are where they can generate significant out-performance. That’s why we pay special attention to hedge fund activity in these stocks.
Is Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL) an excellent investment today? Prominent investors are taking an optimistic view. The number of bullish hedge fund positions moved up by 4 in recent months. JLL was in 25 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 21 hedge funds in our database with JLL holdings at the end of the previous quarter. 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 Omega Healthcare Investors Inc (NYSE:OHI), Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT), and Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB (ADR) (NYSE:FMX) to gather more data points.
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Keeping this in mind, let’s review the fresh action regarding Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL).
How have hedgies been trading Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 25 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 19% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Capital Growth Management, managed by Ken Heebner, holds the biggest position in Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL). Capital Growth Management has a $97.8 million position in the stock, comprising 3.2% of its 13F portfolio. On Capital Growth Management’s heels is Generation Investment Management, led by David Blood and Al Gore, holding a $96.5 million position; 1.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that hold long positions contain Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Sahm Adrangi’s Kerrisdale Capital and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. PDT Partners, managed by Peter Muller, assembled the most outsized position in Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL). PDT Partners had $6.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $4.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new JLL investors: Lawrence Sapanski’s Scoria Capital, Mike Vranos’s Ellington, and Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Omega Healthcare Investors Inc (NYSE:OHI), Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT), Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB (ADR) (NYSE:FMX), and Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK). All of these stocks’ market caps match JLL’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| OHI | 14 | 62359 | 0 |
| CPT | 18 | 288972 | 5 |
| FMX | 16 | 191566 | 2 |
| CCK | 30 | 582699 | 4 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 19.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $281 million. That figure was $515 million in JLL’s case. Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Omega Healthcare Investors Inc (NYSE:OHI) is the least popular one with only 14 bullish hedge fund positions. Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL) 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 CCK might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
