Should You Avoid EverBank Financial Corp (EVER)?

Due to the fact that EverBank Financial Corp (NYSE:EVER) has experienced a bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there is a sect of hedge funds that decided to sell off their positions entirely last quarter. Interestingly, Steven B. Klinsky’s New Mountain Capital dropped the biggest investment of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, valued at an estimated $132.3 million in stock, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $4.8 million worth of shares. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 1 fund last quarter.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as EverBank Financial Corp (NYSE:EVER) but similarly valued. We will take a look at KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR), Dycom Industries, Inc. (NYSE:DY), Texas Capital Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:TCBI), and IBERIABANK Corporation (NASDAQ:IBKC). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to EverBank Financial Corp (NYSE:EVER)’s market valuation.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 19 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $424 million. That figure was $216 million in EverBank Financial Corp (NYSE:EVER)’s case. KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, IBERIABANK Corporation (NASDAQ:IBKC) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, EverBank Financial Corp (NYSE:EVER) is even less popular than IBERIABANK Corporation (NASDAQ:IBKC). 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.