Is Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (VAC) a Good Stock to Buy?

Now, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Balyasny Asset Management initiated the most outsized position in Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (NYSE:VAC). Andrew Weiss’ Weiss Asset Management also made a $0.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new VAC positions are Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (NYSE:VAC). These stocks are Planet Fitness Inc (NYSE:PLNT), Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO), Golar LNG Limited (USA) (NASDAQ:GLNG), and Parkway Properties Inc (NYSE:PKY). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble VAC’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 17 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $195 million. That figure was $55 million in VAC’s case. Golar LNG Limited (USA) (NASDAQ:GLNG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Parkway Properties Inc (NYSE:PKY) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (NYSE:VAC) is even less popular than PKY. 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.

Disclosure: None