Do Hedge Funds Love Smith & Nephew plc (ADR) (SNN)?

Since Smith & Nephew plc (ADR) (NYSE:SNN) has faced bearish sentiment from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers who sold off their entire stakes heading into Q4. Interestingly, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management dumped the biggest investment of the 700 funds tracked by Insider Monkey, valued at about $12.3 million in stock, and Paul Sinclair of Blue Jay Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $9.3 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 7 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Smith & Nephew plc (ADR) (NYSE:SNN) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:SHG), WEC Energy Group Inc (NYSE:WEC), Nielsen N.V. Ordinary Shares (NYSE:NLSN), and M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB). This group of stocks’ market caps matches SNN’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 15 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $340 million. That figure was $159 million in Smith & Nephew plc (ADR) (NYSE:SNN)’s case. M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:SHG) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Smith & Nephew plc (ADR) (NYSE:SNN) 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 M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.