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 March 31, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on Nine Energy Service, Inc. (NYSE:NINE).

Hedge fund interest in Nine Energy Service, Inc. (NYSE:NINE) shares was flat at the end of last quarter. This is usually a negative indicator. 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 United Insurance Holdings Corp.(NDA) (NASDAQ:UIHC), Fossil Group Inc (NASDAQ:FOSL), and Sabine Royalty Trust (NYSE:SBR) to gather more data points.

Why do we pay any attention at all to hedge fund sentiment? Our research has shown that hedge funds' large-cap stock picks indeed failed to beat the market between 1999 and 2016. However, we were able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the market by 40 percentage points since May 2014 through May 30, 2019 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that'll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 30.9% through May 30, 2019. That's why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.

Let's take a look at the recent hedge fund action regarding Nine Energy Service, Inc. (NYSE:NINE).

What have hedge funds been doing with Nine Energy Service, Inc. (NYSE:NINE)?

At Q1's end, a total of 10 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 0% from the fourth quarter of 2018. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in NINE over the last 15 quarters. With hedge funds' capital changing hands, there exists an "upper tier" of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

According to Insider Monkey's hedge fund database, Adage Capital Management, managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, holds the most valuable position in Nine Energy Service, Inc. (NYSE:NINE). Adage Capital Management has a $20.5 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Encompass Capital Advisors, managed by Todd J. Kantor, which holds a $13.7 million position; the fund has 1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers with similar optimism consist of Richard Driehaus's Driehaus Capital, Jim Simons's Renaissance Technologies and Arvind Sanger's GeoSphere Capital Management.