Although the masses and most of the financial media blame hedge funds for their exorbitant fee structure and disappointing performance, these investors have proved to have great stock picking abilities over the years (that’s why their assets under management continue to swell). We believe hedge fund sentiment should serve as a crucial tool of an individual investor’s stock selection process, as it may offer great insights of how the brightest minds of the finance industry feel about specific stocks. After all, these people have access to smartest analysts and expensive data/information sources that individual investors can’t match. So should one consider investing in US Concrete Inc (NASDAQ:USCR)? The smart money sentiment can provide an answer to this question.
US Concrete Inc (NASDAQ:USCR) was in 23 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. USCR investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 22 hedge funds in our database with USCR positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare USCR to other stocks including Northfield Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:NFBK), Regis Corporation (NYSE:RGS), and Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISSI) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow U.s. Concrete Inc. (NASDAQ:USCR)
Follow U.s. Concrete Inc. (NASDAQ:USCR)
With all of this in mind, let’s take a peek at the new action regarding US Concrete Inc (NASDAQ:USCR).
How have hedgies been trading US Concrete Inc (NASDAQ:USCR)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 23 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 5% from the second quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Richard S. Meisenberg’s ACK Asset Management has the largest position in US Concrete Inc (NASDAQ:USCR), worth close to $28.9 million, accounting for 12.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which holds a $22.7 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism comprise Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Columbus Circle Investors and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
As one would reasonably expect, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Columbus Circle Investors created the biggest position in US Concrete Inc (NASDAQ:USCR). Columbus Circle Investors had $9.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital also initiated a $1.2 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Mark Coe’s Coe Capital Management, and Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to US Concrete Inc (NASDAQ:USCR). These stocks are Northfield Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:NFBK), Regis Corporation (NYSE:RGS), Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISSI), and Wix.Com Ltd (NASDAQ:WIX). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble USCR’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| NFBK | 7 | 30841 | -2 |
| RGS | 16 | 236319 | -4 |
| ISSI | 14 | 174796 | -5 |
| WIX | 15 | 81189 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 13 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $131 million. That figure was $118 million in USCR’s case. Regis Corporation (NYSE:RGS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Northfield Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:NFBK) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks US Concrete Inc (NASDAQ:USCR) 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.
