Should You Add Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (SBRA) to Your Portfolio?

As one would reasonably expect, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Stevens Capital Management, led by Matthew Tewksbury, established the largest position in Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (NASDAQ:SBRA). Stevens Capital Management had $0.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Mike Vranos’ Ellington also made a $0.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (NASDAQ:SBRA) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Ophthotech Corp (NASDAQ:OPHT), Liberty Tripadvisor Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LTRPA), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co (NASDAQ:HMHC), and Xenia Hotels & Resorts Inc (NYSE:XHR). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to SBRA’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 24 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $406 million. That figure was $79 million in SBRA’s case. Ophthotech Corp (NASDAQ:OPHT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Xenia Hotels & Resorts Inc (NYSE:XHR) is the least popular one with only 16 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (NASDAQ:SBRA) is even less popular than XHR. 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. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.

Disclosure: none