Is Lincoln National Corporation (LNC) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Now, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Capital Returns Management, managed by Ron Bobman, assembled the most outsized position in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC). Capital Returns Management had $16.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Millennium Management Subsidiary’s Blue Arrow Capital Management also initiated a $10.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new LNC positions are Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC). These stocks are Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC), Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST), Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE:CXO), and Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL). This group of stocks’ market values match LNC’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 39 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $837 million, close to the $845 million in LNC’s case. Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST) is the least popular one with only 29 bullish hedge fund positions. Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) 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 VMC might be a better candidate to consider a long position.