Do Hedge Funds Love Hugoton Royalty Trust (HGT)?

Due to the fact that Hugoton Royalty Trust (NYSE:HGT) has faced a declining sentiment from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there were a few hedgies who were dropping their positions entirely heading into Q4. Intriguingly, Renaissance Technologies cut the largest stake of the “upper crust” of funds monitored by Insider Monkey, totaling close to $0.2 million in stock, and Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $0.1 million worth of shares. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Hugoton Royalty Trust (NYSE:HGT). These stocks are Hardinge Inc. (NASDAQ:HDNG), Provectus Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:PVCT), ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQL), and Rentech, Inc. (NASDAQ:RTK). This group of stocks’ market caps is the closest to Hugoton Royalty Trust (NYSE:HGT)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 8 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $24 million. That figure was $1 million in Hugoton Royalty Trust (NYSE:HGT)’s case. ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQL) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Provectus Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:PVCT) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Hugoton Royalty Trust (NYSE:HGT) 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, ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQL) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.