Is Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc (FRGI) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

As aggregate interest increased, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Driehaus Capital, managed by Richard Driehaus, assembled the most valuable position in Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ:FRGI). Driehaus Capital had $1.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management also initiated a $1.1 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new FRGI positions are Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management and Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ:FRGI) but similarly valued. We will take a look at SAGE Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SAGE), Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI), ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS), and Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS). This group of stocks’ market values resemble FRGI’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 18 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $359 million, versus $41 million in FRGI’s case. Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ:FRGI) 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 OAS might be a better candidate to consider a long position.