Barclays PLC (ADR) (BCS): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Because Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) has weathered declining sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there is a sect of fund managers who sold off their full holdings in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Noam Gottesman’s GLG Partners dropped the biggest position of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, valued at about $14.4 million in stock. Don Morgan’s fund, Brigade Capital, also said goodbye to its stock, about $7.6 million worth.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) but similarly valued. These stocks are TransCanada Corporation (USA) (NYSE:TRP), LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB), Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX), and PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to BCS’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 34 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1.40 billion. That figure was $235 million in BCS’s case. LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand TransCanada Corporation (USA) (NYSE:TRP) is the least popular one with only 14 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) is only as popular as TRP. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.

Disclosure: None