Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc (BBW) Anymore

Due to the fact that Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc (NYSE:BBW) has faced falling interest from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of hedge funds that decided to sell off their full holdings last quarter. Interestingly, Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management said goodbye to the biggest stake of the 700 funds followed by Insider Monkey, valued at an estimated $0.4 million in stock, and Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $0.3 million worth of shares. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 1 fund last quarter.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc (NYSE:BBW). These stocks are Ecopetrol S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:EC), EZCORP Inc (NASDAQ:EZPW), Flexion Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:FLXN), and Western Asset High Yield Defined Opportunity Fund Inc. (NYSE:HYI). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc (NYSE:BBW)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 9 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $44 million. That figure was $54 million in Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc (NYSE:BBW)’s case. EZCORP Inc (NASDAQ:EZPW) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Western Asset High Yield Defined Opportunity Fund Inc. (NYSE:HYI) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc (NYSE:BBW) 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, EZCORP Inc (NASDAQ:EZPW) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.