Is Omega Protein Corporation (OME) a Good Stock To Buy?

As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Renaissance Technologies initiated the most valuable position in Omega Protein Corporation (NYSE:OME). Renaissance Technologies had $3.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Neil Chriss’ Hutchin Hill Capital also initiated a $0.6 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new OME investors: Joshua Packwood and Schuster Tanger’s Radix Partners, Mike Vranos’ Ellington, and Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Omega Protein Corporation (NYSE:OME) but similarly valued. We will take a look at WCI Communities Inc (NYSE:WCIC), Francesca’s Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:FRAN), Almost Family, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFAM), and Dorchester Minerals LP (NASDAQ:DMLP). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to OME’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 14 funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $80 million, versus $60 million in OME’s case. Francesca’s Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:FRAN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Dorchester Minerals LP (NASDAQ:DMLP) is the least popular one with only four investors having reported long positions. Omega Protein Corporation (NYSE:OME) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard Francesca’s Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:FRAN) might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.