Hedge Funds Are Buying Popular Inc (BPOP)

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Consequently, some big names were breaking ground themselves. Polaris Capital Management, led by Bernard Horn, established the biggest position in Popular Inc (NASDAQ:BPOP). John Armitage’s Egerton Capital Limited also made a $73.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Pasco Alfaro / Richard Tumure’s Miura Global Management, Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group, and Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Popular Inc (NASDAQ:BPOP). These stocks are CalAtlantic Group Inc (NYSE:CAA), Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM), Healthcare Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:HR), and IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to BPOP’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
CAA 36 630105 3
COLM 17 107668 -3
HR 6 103017 -5
IDA 6 96192 -4

As you can see these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $234 million. That figure was $587 million in BPOP’s case. CalAtlantic Group Inc (NYSE:CAA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Healthcare Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:HR) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. Popular Inc (NASDAQ:BPOP) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard CAA might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: none.

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