Is Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. (SWM) A Good Stock To Buy?

Since Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. (NYSE:SWM) has encountered declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that elected to cut their entire stakes in the third quarter. Interestingly, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group cashed in the largest stake of all the investors studied by Insider Monkey, totaling about $1.2 million in stock, and Neil Chriss’ Hutchin Hill Capital was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $1.1 million worth of shares.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. (NYSE:SWM) but similarly valued. These stocks are Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc (NASDAQ:ZLTQ), Theravance Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:TBPH), United Fire Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFCS), and Transportadora de Gas del Sur SA (ADR) (NYSE:TGS). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to SWM’s market value.

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 $258 million. That figure was $60 million in SWM’s case. Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc (NASDAQ:ZLTQ) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Transportadora de Gas del Sur SA (ADR) (NYSE:TGS) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. (NYSE:SWM) 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 ZLTQ might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None