Business

Hedgies beat S&P in May

Hedge funds are back, baby.

Three top hedge funds told investors yesterday that they beat the S&P 500 Index in May, The Post has learned.

Leading the trio was Barry Rosenstein, whose Jana Partners gained 4.4 percent during the month after announcing two new activist positions in late April — Oil States and Ashland Oil.

Those stocks gained 10.2 percent and 4.4 percent in May, respectively — compared with a 2.1 percent uptick for the S&P 500.

Dan Loeb’s Third Point Partners finished with a 3.8 percent gain. Loeb’s big win in May came from a $1.1 billion stake in Japanese electronics giant Sony that he announced on May 14, calling for a breakup of the company. Sony gained 22.6 percent for the month.

May produced a 2.9 percent gain for David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital. Apple remains one of Einhorn’s biggest holdings, and it rose 1.6 percent for the month.

Hedge funds as a group haven’t outperformed the broader market for the past four years.