Hedge Funds Are Dumping First Community Bancshares Inc (FCBC)

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Moreover, there was only a single hedge fund selling its entire position: Nine Chapters Capital Management. One hedge fund selling its entire position doesn’t always imply a bearish intent. Theoretically, a hedge fund may decide to sell a promising position in order to invest the proceeds in a more promising idea. However, we don’t think this is the case in this case because none of the 700+ hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey identified FCBC as a viable investment and initiated a position in the stock.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as First Community Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:FCBC) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. (NYSE:ANW), Arbutus Biopharma Corp (NASDAQ:ABUS), NACCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NC), and Egalet Corp (NASDAQ:EGLT). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to FCBC’s market value.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
ANW 14 85797 -5
ABUS 12 160191 -4
NC 5 3422 -2
EGLT 10 32980 7

As you can see these stocks had an average of 10 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $71 million. In comparison, the funds we track have amassed only $7 million worth of FCBC’s stock. Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. (NYSE:ANW) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand NACCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NC) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. First Community Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:FCBC) 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 ANW might be a better candidate to consider a long position.

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