Rent-A-Center Inc (RCII): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

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Seeing as Rent-A-Center Inc (NASDAQ:RCII) has witnessed a bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there was a specific group of funds that elected to cut their positions entirely heading into Q4. Interestingly, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management cut the biggest position of all the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, comprising an estimated $11.8 million in stock. Glenn Russell Dubin’s fund, Highbridge Capital Management, also said goodbye to its stock, about $6.3 million worth of shares. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 4 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Rent-A-Center Inc (NASDAQ:RCII). We will take a look at Nevro Corp (NYSE:NVRO), Surgical Care Affiliates Inc (NASDAQ:SCAI), TeleTech Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTEC), and Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD). This group of stocks’ market caps matches Rent-A-Center Inc (NASDAQ:RCII)’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
NVRO 21 221801 2
SCAI 16 59011 1
TTEC 16 24189 2
FWRD 13 201040 -3

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 17 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $127 million. That figure was $243 million in Rent-A-Center Inc (NASDAQ:RCII)’s case. Nevro Corp (NYSE:NVRO) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, Rent-A-Center Inc (NASDAQ:RCII) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.

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