General Growth Properties Inc (GGP): Hedge Funds Are Snapping Up

Consequently, some big names have jumped into General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE:GGP) headfirst. Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, initiated the biggest position in General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE:GGP). According to its latest 13F filing, the fund had $18.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments also initiated a $3.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new GGP positions are Emanuel J. Friedman’s EJF Capital, Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, and Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE:GGP). We will take a look at Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN), Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI), Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (NYSE:HLT), and Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble GGP’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 48 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $2.05 billion. That figure was a meager $272 million in GGP’s case. Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) is the least popular one with only 37 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE:GGP) is even less popular than BEN. 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.