Hedge Funds Are Buying Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRE)

As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers have jumped into Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE:WRE) headfirst. Stevens Capital Management, led by Matthew Tewksbury, established the largest position in Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE:WRE). Stevens Capital Management had $1.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Mike Vranos’ Ellington also initiated a $0.3 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE:WRE) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW), LogMeIn Inc (NASDAQ:LOGM), Sterling Bancorp (NYSE:STL), and Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to WRE’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 17 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $189 million. That figure was $114 million in WRE’s case. LogMeIn Inc (NASDAQ:LOGM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE:WRE) is even less popular than WWW. 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.

Disclosure: None