Is Synthetic Biologics Inc (SYN) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Now, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Alyeska Investment Group, managed by Anand Parekh, established the most outsized position in Synthetic Biologics Inc (NYSEAMEX:SYN). Alyeska Investment Group had $0.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management also initiated a $0 million position during the quarter.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Synthetic Biologics Inc (NYSEAMEX:SYN) but similarly valued. These stocks are NTELOS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:NTLS), Nivalis Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:NVLS), Preformed Line Products Company (NASDAQ:PLPC), and Zagg Inc (NASDAQ:ZAGG). This group of stocks’ market values match SYN’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 12.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $44 million, compared to $19 million in SYN’s case. Nivalis Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:NVLS) is the most popular stock in this table with 19 funds reporting long positions, while Preformed Line Products Company (NASDAQ:PLPC) is the least popular one. Synthetic Biologics Inc (NYSEAMEX:SYN) 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. Therefore, NVLS might be a better candidate to consider a long position.