Do Hedge Funds Love 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (FLWS)?

Because 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLWS) has experienced falling interest from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there was a specific group of fund managers that elected to cut their full holdings in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management said goodbye to the largest investment of the 700 funds monitored by Insider Monkey, totaling an estimated $2.2 million in stock. Renaissance Technologies, also cut its stock, about $1.8 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 9 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLWS). These stocks are Avianca Holdings SA (ADR) (NYSE:AVH), WCI Communities Inc (NYSE:WCIC), H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES), and ICF International Inc (NASDAQ:ICFI). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to FLWS’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 13 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $66 million, compared to $33 million in FLWS’s case. WCI Communities Inc (NYSE:WCIC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Avianca Holdings SA (ADR) (NYSE:AVH) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLWS) 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 WCIC might be a better candidate to consider a long position.