Amid an overall market correction, many stocks that smart money investors were collectively bullish on tanked during the third quarter. Among them, Valeant and Micron ranked among the top 30 picks and both lost around 20%. Citigroup, which was the third most popular stock, lost 10% amid uncertainty regarding the interest rates. Nevertheless, our research shows that most of the stocks that smart money likes historically generate strong risk-adjusted returns. This is why following the smart money sentiment is a useful tool at identifying the next stock to invest in.
Pacific Continental Corporation (NASDAQ:PCBK) has seen a mild increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately. Pacific Continental Corporation was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with Pacific Continental Corporation positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare PCBK to other stocks including Oncothyreon Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:ONTY), Nam Tai Property Inc (NYSE:NTP), and Ignyta Inc (NASDAQ:RXDX) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Pacific Continental Corp (NASDAQ:PCBK)
Follow Pacific Continental Corp (NASDAQ:PCBK)
In today’s marketplace there are a large number of indicators investors can use to appraise publicly traded companies. A duo of the best indicators are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can beat the S&P 500 by a very impressive margin (see the details here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a glance at the new action surrounding Pacific Continental Corporation (NASDAQ:PCBK).
What does the smart money think about Pacific Continental Corporation (NASDAQ:PCBK)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 8 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a 14% uptick from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably (or had already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Basswood Capital, managed by Matthew Lindenbaum, holds the most valuable position in Pacific Continental Corporation (NASDAQ:PCBK). Basswood Capital has a $20.7 million position in the stock, comprising 1% of its 13F portfolio. On Basswood Capital’s heels is Renaissance Technologies, holding a $4.6 million position; less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other professional money managers with similar optimism consist of Paul Hondros’ AlphaOne Capital Partners, Neil Chriss’ Hutchin Hill Capital, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Pacific Continental Corporation (NASDAQ:PCBK) but similarly valued. These stocks are Oncothyreon Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:ONTY), Nam Tai Property Inc (NYSE:NTP), Ignyta Inc (NASDAQ:RXDX), and Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:HOV). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to Pacific Continental Corporation’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| ONTY | 19 | 84063 | 1 |
| NTP | 8 | 27450 | 1 |
| RXDX | 12 | 79834 | -6 |
| HOV | 16 | 37867 | 5 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 13.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $57 million. That figure was $31 million in Pacific Continental Corporation’s case. Oncothyreon Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:ONTY) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Nam Tai Property Inc (NYSE:NTP) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Pacific Continental Corporation (NASDAQ:PCBK) is even less popular than NTP. 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.
