Should You Avoid Empire State Realty Trust Inc (ESRT)?

Page 2 of 2

Because Empire State Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:ESRT) has faced a decline in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there were a few money managers that slashed their full holdings by the end of the third quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Israel Englander’s Millennium Management sold off the largest stake of the “upper crust” of funds tracked by Insider Monkey, totaling about $31 million in stock, and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $7.6 million worth of shares.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Empire State Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:ESRT). We will take a look at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY), Commscope Holding Company Inc (NASDAQ:COMM), Burlington Stores Inc (NYSE:BURL), and Voya Financial Inc (NYSE:VOYA). This group of stocks’ market caps match ESRT’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
ALNY 25 389114 0
COMM 52 2887006 5
BURL 36 814807 2
VOYA 38 1161480 1

As you can see these stocks had an average of 37.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1313 million. That figure was $197 million in ESRT’s case. Commscope Holding Company Inc (NASDAQ:COMM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) is the least popular one with only 25 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Empire State Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:ESRT) is even less popular than ALNY. 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


Page 2 of 2