Is Empire State Realty Trust Inc (ESRT) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Seeing as Empire State Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:ESRT) has witnessed a falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there was a specific group of fund managers who sold off their full holdings last quarter. Intriguingly, Rod Hinze’s KeyPoint Capital Management sold off the biggest stake of the 700 funds tracked by Insider Monkey, worth about $2.6 million in stock, and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $2.4 million worth of shares. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest fell by 6 funds last quarter.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Empire State Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:ESRT) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Grupo Aeroportuario dl Srst SAB CV (ADR) (NYSE:ASR), Howard Hughes Corp (NYSE:HHC), Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM), and Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to Empire State Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:ESRT)’s market value.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $729 million. That figure was $149 million in Empire State Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:ESRT)’s case. Howard Hughes Corp (NYSE:HHC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Grupo Aeroportuario dl Srst SAB CV (ADR) (NYSE:ASR) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. Empire State Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:ESRT) 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, Howard Hughes Corp (NYSE:HHC) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.