How do we determine whether Criteo SA (ADR) (NASDAQ:CRTO) makes for a good investment at the moment? We analyze the sentiment of a select group of the very best investors in the world, who spend immense amounts of time and resources studying companies. They may not always be right (no one is), but data shows that their consensus long positions have historically outperformed the market when we adjust for known risk factors.
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Criteo SA (ADR) (NASDAQ:CRTO) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in hedge fund interest recently, as it dipped by one on aggregate during the third quarter among the investors in our database. At the end of this article, we will also compare Criteo SA (ADR) (NASDAQ:CRTO) to other stocks including Medidata Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MDSO), PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT), and The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR) to get a better sense of its popularity.
If you’d ask most stock holders, hedge funds are perceived as underperforming, outdated investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8,000 funds trading today, hedge fund experts at Insider Monkey look at the crème de la crème of this group, around 700 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group of people preside over most of the smart money’s total asset base, and by observing their inimitable equity investments, Insider Monkey has revealed various investment strategies that have historically beaten Mr. Market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points per year for a decade in its backtests.
Keeping this in mind, let’s check out the latest action encompassing Criteo SA (ADR) (NASDAQ:CRTO).
What does the smart money think about Criteo SA (ADR) (NASDAQ:CRTO)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 20 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long in this stock, a decrease of 5% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Jericho Capital Asset Management, managed by Josh Resnick, holds the most valuable position in Criteo SA (ADR) (NASDAQ:CRTO). Jericho Capital Asset Management has a $62.7 million position in the stock, comprising 3.9% of its 13F portfolio. On Jericho Capital Asset Management’s heels is
Clifford Fox of Columbus Circle Investors, with a $46.2 million position; 0.4% of his 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish encompass Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP, James Dinan’s York Capital Management, and Eric Mindich’s Eton Park Capital.
Seeing as Criteo SA (ADR) (NASDAQ:CRTO) has faced falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that decided to sell off their entire stakes last quarter. Interestingly, Joe DiMenna’s ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS dropped the biggest stake of all the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, worth an estimated $11.5 million in stock. James Dondero’s fund, Highland Capital Management, also said goodbye to its stock, about $9 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest fell by one fund last quarter.
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Criteo SA (ADR) (NASDAQ:CRTO). We will take a look at Medidata Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MDSO), PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT), The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR), and Domtar Corp (USA) (NYSE:UFS). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble Criteo SA (ADR) (NASDAQ:CRTO)’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| MDSO | 17 | 72845 | 0 |
| PSMT | 12 | 47790 | 3 |
| TKR | 20 | 274701 | -4 |
| UFS | 20 | 111838 | 2 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 17 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $127 million, less than half of the $265 million in Criteo shares held by investors, amounting to 11.40% of its common stock. The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. Criteo SA (ADR) (NASDAQ:CRTO) is not the most popular stock in this group, with slightly less capital invested in it than in The Timken Company, but for an ADR stock, in which hedge funds in our database are often very underweight, ownership is strong. Thus, it may be worth looking into why hedge funds are buying so many shares of the company.
