Insider Monkey has processed numerous 13F filings of hedge funds and famous investors to create an extensive database of hedge fund holdings. The 13F filings show the hedge funds’ and investors’ positions as of the end of the third quarter. You can find write-ups about an individual hedge fund’s trades on numerous financial news websites. However, in this article we will take a look at their collective moves and analyze what the smart money thinks of Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) based on that data.
Is Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) a splendid investment now? Prominent investors are in a pessimistic mood. The number of long hedge fund bets dropped by 4 recently. At the end of this article we will also compare Hyatt Hotels to other stocks including ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE), W.R. Grace & Co. (NYSE:GRA), and W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Hyatt Hotels Corp (NYSE:H)
Follow Hyatt Hotels Corp (NYSE:H)
To most stock holders, hedge funds are seen as worthless, outdated investment tools of yesteryear. While there are over 8,000 funds in operation at the moment, we choose to focus on the bigwigs of this group, approximately 700 funds. These money managers direct bulk of the smart money’s total asset base, and by tailing their unrivaled investments, Insider Monkey has found numerous investment strategies that have historically beaten the market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy surpassed the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points per annum for a decade in their back tests.
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to view the recent action surrounding Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H).
How have hedgies been trading Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 20 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a 17% decline from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially (or had already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Long Pond Capital, managed by John Khoury, holds the biggest position in Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H). Long Pond Capital has a $92 million position in the stock, comprising 4% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting in the 2 spot is Gruss Asset Management, led by Howard Guberman, holding a $65.5 million position; the fund has 2.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that are bullish encompass Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and D E Shaw.
Seeing as Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) has faced falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers that slashed their full holdings heading into Q4. Interestingly, Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management cut the biggest position of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, valued at an estimated $46.5 million in stock, and Renaissance Technologies was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $9.3 million worth of shares. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds heading into Q4.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H). These stocks are ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE), W.R. Grace & Co. (NYSE:GRA), W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB), and The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES). This group of stocks’ market values resemble Hyatt Hotels’ market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| OKE | 20 | 184570 | -2 |
| GRA | 47 | 2773512 | 2 |
| WRB | 22 | 1014441 | 2 |
| AES | 30 | 210764 | 5 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 30 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1.05 billion. That figure was $296 million in Hyatt Hotels’ case. W.R. Grace & Co. (NYSE:GRA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) is the least popular one with only 20 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) is tied with OKE as the least popular stock. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock.
