Is Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (OZM) A Good Stock To Buy?

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Is Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE:OZM) an outstanding stock to buy now? Hedge funds are taking an optimistic view. The number of long hedge fund positions grew by 1 lately. There were 16 hedge funds in our database with OZM holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare OZM to other stocks including DiamondRock Hospitality Company (NYSE:DRH), Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU), and ICU Medical, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ICUI) to get a better sense of its popularity.

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Now, we’re going to take a look at the recent action regarding Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE:OZM).

Hedge fund activity in Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE:OZM)

At Q3’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, up 6% from one quarter earlier. By comparison, 15 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in OZM heading into this year. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, David Abrams’s Abrams Capital Management has the number one position in Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE:OZM), worth close to $74 million, amounting to 3.7% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Blue Ridge Capital, led by John Griffin, which holds a $38.4 million position; 0.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other professional money managers that are bullish include Crispin Odey’s Odey Asset Management Group, Thomas Ellis and Todd Hammer’s North Run Capital and Brian Gaines’s Springhouse Capital Management. We should note that none of these hedge funds are among our list of the 100 best performing hedge funds which is based on the performance of their 13F long positions in non-microcap stocks.

As aggregate interest increased, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. North Run Capital, led by Thomas Ellis and Todd Hammer, assembled the largest position in Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE:OZM). According to regulatory filings, the fund had $15.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Michael Hintze’s CQS Cayman LP also initiated a $0.7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new OZM positions are Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE:OZM). These stocks are DiamondRock Hospitality Company (NYSE:DRH), Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU), ICU Medical, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ICUI), and Cogent Communications Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to OZM’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 12 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $93 million. That figure was $186 million in OZM’s case. Cogent Communications Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE:OZM) 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.

Disclosure: none.