Is Nuveen Floating Rate Income Fund (JFR) A Good Stock To Buy?

Earlier we told you that the aggregate hedge fund interest in the stock was unchanged and we view this as a negative development. Even though there weren’t any hedge funds dumping their holdings during the third quarter, there weren’t any hedge funds initiating brand new positions. This indicates that hedge funds, at the very best, perceive this stock as dead money and they haven’t identified any viable catalysts that can attract investor attention.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Nuveen Floating Rate Income Fund (NYSE:JFR) but similarly valued. These stocks are Boulder Brands Inc (NASDAQ:BDBD), Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC), Cowen Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:COWN), and Tower International Inc (NYSE:TOWR). This group of stocks’ market values resembles Nuveen Floating Rate Income Fund (NYSE:JFR)’s market value.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $97 million. That figure was $7 million in Nuveen Floating Rate Income Fund (NYSE:JFR)’s case. Tower International Inc (NYSE:TOWR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, Nuveen Floating Rate Income Fund (NYSE:JFR) is even less popular than Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC). 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.