What Does the Smart Money Think of Pretium Resources Inc (PVG)?

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 30th, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on Pretium Resources Inc (NYSE:PVG).

Pretium Resources Inc (NYSE:PVG) was in 12 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September, unchanged from the number of funds long the stock 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 FTD Companies Inc (NASDAQ:FTD), Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR), and InvenSense Inc (NYSE:INVN) to gather more data points.

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In today’s marketplace there are tons of metrics market participants have at their disposal to value their holdings. A pair of the less utilized metrics are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. we have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a solid amount (see the details here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s analyze the fresh action surrounding Pretium Resources Inc (NYSE:PVG).

How are hedge funds trading Pretium Resources Inc (NYSE:PVG)?

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Sun Valley Gold, managed by Peter Franklin Palmedo, holds the number one position in Pretium Resources Inc (NYSE:PVG). Sun Valley Gold has a $25.1 million position in the stock, comprising 1.5% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Aristeia Capital, led by Robert Henry Lynch, holding a $19.9 million position; 1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers with similar optimism include Eric Sprott’s Sprott Asset Management, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management.

Judging by the fact that Pretium Resources Inc (NYSE:PVG) has witnessed flat to bearish sentiment from the smart money, we can see that there was a specific group of hedgies who sold off their full holdings heading into Q4. At the top of the heap, Michael Kaufman’s MAK Capital One said goodbye to the biggest stake of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, worth an estimated $1.6 million in stock. John Thiessen’s fund, Vertex One Asset Management, also cut its stock, about $0.5 million worth.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Pretium Resources Inc (NYSE:PVG) but similarly valued. These stocks are FTD Companies Inc (NASDAQ:FTD), Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR), InvenSense Inc (NYSE:INVN), and Nuveen Performance Plus Municipal Fund (NYSE:NPP). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to PVG’s market value.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
FTD 20 123144 4
CZR 23 254293 1
INVN 16 63546 -4
NPP 5 7396 2

As you can see these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $112 million.That figure was $74 million in PVG’s case. Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Nuveen Performance Plus Municipal Fund (NYSE:NPP) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Pretium Resources Inc (NYSE:PVG) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard CZR might be a better candidate to consider a long position.