Is Hibbett Sports, Inc. (HIBB) A Good Stock To Buy?

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Due to the fact that Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB) has witnessed falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of funds who sold off their positions entirely last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies dumped the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds watched by Insider Monkey, comprising close to $9.2 million in stock. Israel Englander’s fund, Millennium Management, also sold off its stock, about $5.9 million worth. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 9 funds last quarter.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB) but similarly valued. These stocks are Central Garden & Pet Co (NASDAQ:CENT), Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MMSI), Barracuda Networks Inc (NYSE:CUDA), and Genomic Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GHDX). All of these stocks’ market caps are closest to HIBB’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
CENT 16 93076 -2
MMSI 12 51313 -6
CUDA 11 80070 -4
GHDX 16 454808 -1

As you can see these stocks had an average of 13.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $170 million. That figure was $12 million in HIBB’s case. Central Garden & Pet Co (NASDAQ:CENT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Barracuda Networks Inc (NYSE:CUDA) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB) is even less popular than CUDA. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.

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