Is WestAmerica Bancorp. (WABC) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

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Because WestAmerica Bancorp. (NASDAQ:WABC) has experienced bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few money managers who were dropping their full holdings heading into Q4. At the top of the heap, Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP sold off the biggest position of all the hedgies watched by Insider Monkey, totaling about $1.1 million in stock, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $0.6 million worth of shares. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest fell by 3 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as WestAmerica Bancorp. (NASDAQ:WABC) but similarly valued. These stocks are Viper Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ:VNOM), S & T Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:STBA), Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTA), and Cubic Corporation (NYSE:CUB). This group of stocks’ market valuations match WABC’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
VNOM 5 20812 0
STBA 5 7375 -1
MNTA 17 277693 -2
CUB 16 90819 -6

As you can see these stocks had an average of 11 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $99 million. That figure was a meager $16 million in WABC’s case. Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Viper Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ:VNOM) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. WestAmerica Bancorp. (NASDAQ:WABC) 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 MNTA might be a better candidate to consider a long position.

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