At Insider Monkey, we pore over the filings of more than 700 top investment firms every quarter, a process we have now completed for the latest reporting period. The data we’ve gathered as a result gives us access to a wealth of collective knowledge based on these firms’ portfolio holdings as of September 30. In this article, we will use that wealth of knowledge to determine whether or not Sealed Air Corp (NYSE:SEE) makes for a good investment right now.
Is Sealed Air Corp a healthy stock for your portfolio? The smart money is reducing their bets on the stock. The number of bullish hedge fund positions fell by 5 lately. SEE was in 49 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 54 hedge funds in our database with SEE positions at the end of the previous quarter. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN), C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW), and Autoliv Inc. (NYSE:ALV) to gather more data points.
Follow Sealed Air Corp (NYSE:SEE)
Follow Sealed Air Corp (NYSE:SEE)
In today’s marketplace there are numerous formulas market participants have at their disposal to assess publicly traded companies. A pair of the less known formulas are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can beat the S&P 500 by a very impressive amount (see the details here).
With all of this in mind, let’s go over the new action regarding Sealed Air Corp (NYSE:SEE).
What does the smart money think about Sealed Air Corp (NYSE:SEE)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 49 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -9% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Iridian Asset Management, managed by David Cohen and Harold Levy, holds the biggest position in Sealed Air Corp (NYSE:SEE). Iridian Asset Management has a $536.9 million position in the stock, comprising 4.5% of its 13F portfolio. On Iridian Asset Management’s heels is Andreas Halvorsen of Viking Global, with a $402.3 million position; 1.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other professional money managers that are bullish consist of Dan Loeb’s Third Point, John Lykouretzos’s Hoplite Capital Management and D E Shaw.
Judging by the fact that Sealed Air Corp (NYSE:SEE) has experienced a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there were a few hedge funds that elected to cut their full holdings by the end of the third quarter. Intriguingly, Curtis Schenker and Craig Effron’s Scoggin sold off the biggest position of the 700 funds tracked by Insider Monkey, worth about $29.9 million in stock. Ben Gambill’s fund, Tiger Eye Capital, also said goodbye to its stock, about $16.7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 5 funds by the end of the third quarter.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Sealed Air Corp (NYSE:SEE). These stocks are Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN), C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW), Autoliv Inc. (NYSE:ALV), and IMS Health Holdings Inc (NYSE:IMS). This group of stocks’ market values match SEE’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| EMN | 37 | 1080524 | -2 |
| CHRW | 24 | 785286 | 3 |
| ALV | 12 | 60995 | -2 |
| IMS | 32 | 831402 | 13 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 26.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $690 million. That figure was $2,192 million in SEE’s case. Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Autoliv Inc. (NYSE:ALV) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Sealed Air Corp (NYSE:SEE) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.
