Alere Inc (ALR): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Empyrean Capital Partners, managed by Michael A. Price and Amos Meron, created the most valuable position in Alere Inc (NYSE:ALR). Empyrean Capital Partners had $10.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Sander Gerber’s Hudson Bay Capital Management also initiated a $10.2 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, Solomon Kumin’s Folger Hill Asset Management, and Youlia Miteva’s Proxima Capital Management.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Alere Inc (NYSE:ALR) but similarly valued. These stocks are Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (USA) (NYSE:RBA), MAXIMUS, Inc. (NYSE:MMS), WGL Holdings Inc (NYSE:WGL), and Telecom Argentina S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TEO). This group of stocks’ market caps resemble ALR’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 12 funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $94 million. That figure was $1.10 billion in ALR’s case. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (USA) (NYSE:RBA) is the most popular stock in this table, while MAXIMUS, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, Alere Inc (NYSE:ALR) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.