11 Recent Spin-off Companies That Hedge Funds Are Piling Into

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In this article, we discuss the 11 recent spin-off companies that hedge funds are piling into. To skip the detailed analysis of spin-off companies and their recent performance, go directly to the 5 Recent Spin-off Companies That Hedge Funds Are Piling Into.

A spin-off is a process that involves a company separating a part of its business to create a separate entity. The company then distributes the shares of the spun-off company among its shareholders. There are several reasons a company can opt for a spin-off. Most of the time, it is because a company believes that either spinning off a division would allow the company to focus on its core business or the separate entity will perform better on its own. In some cases, the spin-off can be a win-win for both the parent company and the spun-off company.

One of the examples of successful spin-offs is Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) splitting off its research-based pharmaceutical manufacturer division into a separate publicly traded company, AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV). While Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) was always a fundamentally strong company, AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) has become one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world by revenue. Since it went public in January 2013, the company's stock is up nearly 350%. Its parent company, Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), is up nearly 225%.

Activist investors can also push companies toward spin-offs. Keith Meister of Corvex Capital pushed for the spin-off of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)’s China division after he acquired the company’s shares in 2015. Carl Icahn’s protege, Meister, believed that the spin-off would unlock the division’s true value. The spin-off was completed in 2016 and created the company, Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC). You can read about Keith Meister’s other activist targets in our report, Long-Term Returns of Keith Meister’s Activist Targets.

One of our previous reports suggests that when a spin-off occurs due to activist investors’ pressure, the parent company’s stock gains significantly in most cases. The report also mentions a study that compared the performance of spun-off companies against two benchmarks. The study found that spun-off companies generally outperform their benchmarks in the first 22 months. Furthermore, parent companies generally outperform the benchmarks for the first 15 months.

Performance of Recent Spin-offs

Recent spin-off companies have shown mixed performances. However, the Invesco S&P Spin-Off ETF is ending the year on a positive note with 20.58% year-to-date gains as of December 15. The ETF consists of companies with at least $1 billion in market value that have spun off over the last four years.