AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (AU): Hendge Funds Are Buying, Should You?

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Since AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (NYSE:AU) has witnessed a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of hedge funds who were dropping their positions entirely last quarter. At the top of the heap, Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital said goodbye to the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds monitored by Insider Monkey, comprising close to $3.8 million in stock, and Michael Platt and William Reeves’s BlueCrest Capital Mgmt. was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $1.9 million worth of shares. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds last quarter.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (NYSE:AU). We will take a look at American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS), RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ), Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS), and Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR). This group of stocks’ market valuations resembles AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (NYSE:AU)’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
ACAS 36 1095174 -2
RLJ 9 116093 -3
WBS 25 453351 2
POR 13 159206 -2

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 21 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $456 million. That figure was $495 million in AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (NYSE:AU)’s case. American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (NYSE:AU) 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, American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.

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