Is Penumbra Inc (PEN) A Good Stock To Buy?

As aggregate interest increased, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Millennium Management, led by Israel Englander, established the most outsized position in Penumbra Inc (NYSE:PEN). Millennium Management had $14 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Columbus Circle Investors also made a $12.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new PEN positions are James Dondero’s Highland Capital Management, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, and Efrem Kamen’s Pura Vida Investments.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Penumbra Inc (NYSE:PEN). We will take a look at Office Depot Inc (NYSE:ODP), Esterline Technologies Corporation (NYSE:ESL), Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI), and Lithia Motors Inc (NYSE:LAD). All of these stocks’ market caps are closest to PEN’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 21.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $310 million. That figure was $158 million in PEN’s case. Office Depot Inc (NYSE:ODP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI) is the least popular one with only 15 bullish hedge fund positions. Penumbra Inc (NYSE:PEN) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard ODP might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.