Do Hedge Funds Love Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT)?

As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers have jumped into Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) headfirst. Soros Fund Management, managed by George Soros, created the most outsized position in Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT). Soros Fund Management had $16.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David S. Winter and David J. Millstone’s 40 North Management also made a $11.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new FRT investors: David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and Thomas Bailard’s Bailard Inc.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT). These stocks are BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE:BWA), The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY), and Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (NYSE:AMG). All of these stocks’ market caps match FRT’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 28.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $546 million. That figure was $222 million in FRT’s case. Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (NYSE:AMG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) is the least popular one with only 23 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) is even less popular than NLY. 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.