Should You Buy Select Medical Holdings Corporation (SEM), Healthways, Inc. (HWAY) & Two Other Healthcare Stocks?

Should you invest in Select Medical Holdings Corporation (NYSE:SEM), Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:KND), Almost Family, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFAM), and Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWAY)? Our research showed that an investor can outperform the market by following hedge funds into the top picks that they are bullish on. We track around 750 funds and among them Conan Laughlin‘s North Tide Capital has all these four companies among its top picks. Therefore, in this article, we’ll take a closer look at these four stocks from North Tide’s equity portfolio, assess their performance last quarter and see what is the general smart money sentiment towards them.

North Tide Capital had an equity portfolio worth $897.39 million at the end of June, with 90% allocated towards the healthcare sector. Out of a total of 18 holdings, the fund held 10 stakes in companies with a market cap of at least $1.0 billion, which generated a weighted average return of 10.89% during the third quarter. Even though the actual returns of the fund can be different from our calculations, since we don’t include the investments in small-cap stocks and other instruments, we can still get an idea whether or not a fund is worth following, based on our analysis.

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In Select Medical Holdings Corporation (NYSE:SEM), North Tide held 13.10 million shares worth $142.40 million at the end of June. This was one of the fund’s most profitable bets in the third quarter, as the stock advanced by 24.2%. Overall, 16 funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock at the end of June, unchanged over the quarter. North Tide was the largest shareholder among them, followed by Camber Capital Management, led by Stephen DuBois, holding a $60.6 million position. Remaining professional money managers that hold long positions encompass Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management.

On the other hand, Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:KND)‘s stock lost 8.5% between July and September. North Tide entered the period with 8.0 million shares worth $90.32 million, being one of 17 funds from our database that held shares of the company at the end of June, down from 24 funds a quarter earlier. Carlson Capital, which amassed $45.2 million worth of shares, was the second-largest shareholder, trailing North Tide Capital. Moreover, Brigade Capital, Glenview Capital, and Gotham Asset Management were also bullish on Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:KND).

In Almost Family, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFAM), North Tide held 1.25 million shares valued at $53.26 million at the end of the second quarter. Overall, there were 14 funds tracked by our team bullish on the stock heading into the third quarter, during which the shares slid by 13.7%. North Tide Capital, the top shareholder of Almost Family, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFAM), was followed by Millennium Management with a $5.2 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Fisher Asset Management, PEAK6 Capital Management, and Renaissance Technologies.

Finally, Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWAY) was by far the most profitable bet of North Tide Capital as the stock surged by 129.1% during the third quarter. At the beginning of the period, the fund held 4.50 million shares worth $51.98 million, which made it the largest shareholder among the 18 funds from our database that were bullish on Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWAY) at the end of June. The second most bullish fund manager was Deerfield Management, led by James E. Flynn, which held a $29.4 million position. Some other members of the smart money that hold long positions comprise Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.

Disclosure: none