BB&T Corporation (BBT): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, created the biggest call position in BB&T Corporation (NYSE:BBT). Citadel Investment Group had $11.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Tudor Jones’ Tudor Investment Corp also made a $7.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new BBT positions are George Hall’s Clinton Group, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, and Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to BB&T Corporation (NYSE:BBT). We will take a look at PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG), Liberty Global Inc. (NASDAQ:LBTYA), Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:RBS), and Eaton Corporation, PLC Ordinary Shares (NYSE:ETN). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble BBT’s market valuation.

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 $876 million. That figure was $181 million in BBT’s case. Liberty Global Inc. (NASDAQ:LBTYA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:RBS) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. BB&T Corporation (NYSE:BBT) 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 pouring money into. In this regard LBTYA might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None