The latest 13F reporting period has come and gone, and Insider Monkey is again at the forefront when it comes to making use of this gold mine of data. We have processed the filings of the more than 700 world-class investment firms that we track and now have access to the collective wisdom contained in these filings, which are based on their September 30 holdings, data that is available nowhere else. Should you consider Renasant Corp. (NASDAQ:RNST) for your portfolio? We’ll look to this invaluable collective wisdom for the answer.
Is Renasant Corp. an outstanding investment now? The smart money is turning bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund positions advanced by 1 in the third quarter, while the value of their holdings shot up by over 50%. RNST was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September, with those positions valued at $47.83 million. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with RNST positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare RNST to other stocks including BlackRock Credit All Inc Trust IV (NYSE:BTZ), Noah Holdings Limited (ADR) (NYSE:NOAH), and PMC-Sierra Inc (NASDAQ:PMCS) to get a better sense of its popularity.
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Follow Renasant Corp (NASDAQ:RNST)
In the financial world there are dozens of indicators market participants have at their disposal to grade publicly traded companies. A couple of the best indicators are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can trounce the market by a solid amount (see the details here).
With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a peek at the key action regarding Renasant Corp. (NASDAQ:RNST).
Hedge fund activity in Renasant Corp. (NASDAQ:RNST)
Heading into Q4, a total of 10 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, an 11% increase from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially (or had already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Renaissance Technologies has the most valuable position in Renasant Corp. (NASDAQ:RNST), worth close to $22.1 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting in the 2 spot is Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group, with an $11 million position; the fund has less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining members of the smart money that are bullish consist of AlphaOne Capital Partners, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management, and Anton Schutz’s Mendon Capital Advisors.
As aggregate interest increased, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. AlphaOne Capital Partners, managed by Paul Hondros, created the most valuable position in Renasant Corp. (NASDAQ:RNST). AlphaOne Capital Partners had $5.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Fisher Asset Management also made a $2.9 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new RNST investors: Mendon Capital Advisors and David Cohen and Harold Levy’s Iridian Asset Management.
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Renasant Corp. (NASDAQ:RNST) but similarly valued. We will take a look at BlackRock Credit All Inc Trust IV (NYSE:BTZ), Noah Holdings Limited (ADR) (NYSE:NOAH), PMC-Sierra Inc (NASDAQ:PMCS), and Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:APOG). This group of stocks’ market values match RNST’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTZ | 8 | 26356 | 0 |
| NOAH | 7 | 28062 | -3 |
| PMCS | 34 | 540004 | 7 |
| APOG | 20 | 66327 | 1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 17 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $165 million. That figure was $48 million in RNST’s case. PMC-Sierra Inc (NASDAQ:PMCS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Noah Holdings Limited (ADR) (NYSE:NOAH) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. Renasant Corp. (NASDAQ:RNST) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal despite the growth in holdings in the third quarter, and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard PMCS might be a better candidate to consider a long position in.
