Is NorthStar Asset Management Group Inc (NSAM) A Good Stock To Buy?

Since NorthStar Asset Management Group Inc (NYSE:NSAM) has witnessed a declination in interest from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few hedgies who were dropping their full holdings last quarter. At the top of the heap, David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital dropped the biggest investment of the 700 funds monitored by Insider Monkey, comprising close to $56.5 million in stock. Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s fund, Marshall Wace LLP, also dropped its stock, about $26.5 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 7 funds last quarter.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as NorthStar Asset Management Group Inc (NYSE:NSAM) but similarly valued. We will take a look at J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP), Lithia Motors Inc (NYSE:LAD), BWX Technologies Inc (NYSE:BWXT), and Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK). This group of stocks’ market caps match NSAM’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 27.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $347 million. That figure was $1374 million in NSAM’s case. J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Lithia Motors Inc (NYSE:LAD) is the least popular one with only 23 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks NorthStar Asset Management Group Inc (NYSE:NSAM) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.