Is Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) A Good Stock To Buy?

As aggregate interest increased, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Discovery Capital Management, managed by Rob Citrone, initiated the most valuable position in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX). Discovery Capital Management had $61.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Edmond M. Safra’s EMS Capital also made a $40.9 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new SBUX investors: Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX). We will take a look at Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD), GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK), NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE), and Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble SBUX’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 32.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1664 million. That figure was $1716 million in SBUX’s case. NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) 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 NKE might be a better candidate to consider a long position.