Is WestAmerica Bancorp. (WABC) A Good Stock to Buy?

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Consequently, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Folger Hill Asset Management created the biggest position in WestAmerica Bancorp. (NASDAQ:WABC).  Paul Tudor Jones’ Tudor Investment Corp also initiated a $0.3 million position during the quarter.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as WestAmerica Bancorp. (NASDAQ:WABC) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN), MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE:MXL), FibroGen Inc (NASDAQ:FGEN), and Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd (USA) (NYSE:AAV). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to WABC’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
HURN 12 16830 1
MXL 24 169598 -2
FGEN 15 103111 -2
AAV 9 12530 0

As you can see these stocks had an average of 15 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $76 million. That figure was $14 million in WABC’s case. MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE:MXL) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd (USA) (NYSE:AAV) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks WestAmerica Bancorp. (NASDAQ:WABC) is even less popular than AAV. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock.

Disclosure: None

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