SUPERVALU INC. (SVU) Jumps As It Considers Save-A-Lot Spinoff: Did Hedge Funds Foresee This?

What does the smart money think about SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE:SVU)?

According to hedge fund intelligence website Insider Monkey, Barry Rosenstein‘s JANA Partners had the number one position in SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE:SVU), worth close to $143.8 million, held in 12.36 million shares, and corresponding to 0.8% of its total 13F portfolio. On JANA Partners’ heels was Conan Laughlin of North Tide Capital, with an $81.4 million position comprised of 7 million shares; 6.2% of its 13F portfolio was allocated to the company. Other hedgies that were bullish consist of Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, David E. Shaw’s D.E. Shaw & Co., L.P., and Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management.

Gabriel Plotkin’s Melvin Capital Management initiated the biggest position in SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE:SVU) in the first quarter, buying 1.5 million shares worth about $17.4 million. However, Tom Sandell’s Sandell Asset Management sold off its entire stake, worth about $31.69 million and made up of about 3.27 million shares. David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management also sold all of its 2.67 million shares worth about $25.86 million in the first quarter.

While hedge funds were negative on SUPERVALU in the first quarter, we feel the far lower point of entry from then now makes the stock a more attractive purchase and suspect hedge fund sentiment will have shifted also. In light of the spin-off announcement, we believe it’s a good time to buy SUPERVALU.

Disclosure: None