NewBridge Bancorp (NBBC): Hedge Funds Are Snapping Up

As aggregate interest increased, key money managers have jumped into NewBridge Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBBC) headfirst. Millennium Management initiated the most valuable position in NewBridge Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBBC). Millennium Management had $0.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Magidson, Jonathan Cohen, and Ostrom Enders’ Castine Capital Management also initiated a $0.2 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Joshua Nash’s Ulysses Management.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to NewBridge Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBBC). We will take a look at Neos Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:NEOS), Potbelly Corp (NASDAQ:PBPB), Zogenix, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZGNX), and Comtech Telecomm. Corp. (NASDAQ:CMTL). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble NBBC’s market cap.

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 $65 million in NBBC’s case. Zogenix, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZGNX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Neos Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:NEOS) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. NewBridge Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBBC) 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 ZGNX might be a better candidate to consider a long position.