Hedge Funds Are Selling ABB Ltd (ADR) (ABB)

Judging by the fact that ABB Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ABB) has witnessed falling interest from the smart money, logic holds that there is a sect of hedge funds that slashed their entire stakes last quarter. At the top of the heap, Kenneth Squire’s 13D Management sold off the largest position of all the hedgies watched by Insider Monkey, comprising about $13.4 million in stock. Michael Lowenstein’s fund, Kensico Capital, also sold off its entire holding, about $7.9 million worth of ABB shares. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds last quarter.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to ABB Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ABB). These stocks are Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR) (NYSE:CS), LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB), Suncor Energy Inc. (USA) (NYSE:SU), and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (NASDAQ:CTSH). This group of stocks’ market caps match ABB’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 35 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1.65 billion. That figure was a minor $163 million in ABB’s case. LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR) (NYSE:CS) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. ABB Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ABB) 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 LYB might be a better candidate to consider a long position.