A whopping number of 13F filings filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been processed by Insider Monkey so that individual investors can look at the overall hedge fund sentiment towards the stocks included in their watchlists. These freshly-submitted public filings disclose money managers’ equity positions as of the end of the three-month period that ended September 30, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on National Penn Bancshares (NASDAQ:NPBC).
Is National Penn Bancshares (NASDAQ:NPBC) ready to rally soon? Hedge funds are in an optimistic mood. The number of bullish hedge fund positions increased by 1 in recent months. NPBC was in 17 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 16 hedge funds in our database with NPBC holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare NPBC to other stocks including Retail Opportunity Investments Corp (NASDAQ:ROIC), Simpson Manufacturing Co, Inc. (NYSE:SSD), and Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow National Penn Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:NPBC)
Follow National Penn Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:NPBC)
In today’s marketplace there are a lot of signals stock traders put to use to assess their holdings. A couple of the most useful signals are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a significant amount (see the details here).
Now, let’s analyze the latest action encompassing National Penn Bancshares (NASDAQ:NPBC).
How are hedge funds trading National Penn Bancshares (NASDAQ:NPBC)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 6% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Magnetar Capital, managed by Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser, holds the most valuable position in National Penn Bancshares (NASDAQ:NPBC). Magnetar Capital has a $43.3 million position in the stock, comprising 1.1% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Pzena Investment Management, led by Richard S. Pzena, holding a $30.4 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish consist of John Orrico’s Water Island Capital, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies and Lee Munder’s Lee Munder Capital Group.
As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds have jumped into National Penn Bancshares (NASDAQ:NPBC) headfirst. Magnetar Capital, managed by Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser, assembled the most valuable position in National Penn Bancshares (NASDAQ:NPBC). Magnetar Capital had $43.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Orrico’s Water Island Capital also initiated a $23.8 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new NPBC positions are Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, John Thiessen’s Vertex One Asset Management, and Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to National Penn Bancshares (NASDAQ:NPBC). We will take a look at Retail Opportunity Investments Corp (NASDAQ:ROIC), Simpson Manufacturing Co, Inc. (NYSE:SSD), Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP), and Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI). All of these stocks’ market caps match NPBC’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROIC | 12 | 96612 | 2 |
| SSD | 8 | 185774 | -2 |
| ARLP | 5 | 21423 | -1 |
| HI | 20 | 70529 | -1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 11.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $94 million. That figure was $183 million in NPBC’s case. Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. National Penn Bancshares (NASDAQ:NPBC) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard HI might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
