Should You Follow the Smart Money Back Into Oil States International, Inc. (OIS)?

As industry-wide interest jumped, specific money managers have jumped into Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS) headfirst. Point72 Asset Management initiated the most outsized position in Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS). Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also initiated a $5.2 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new OIS positions are Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS) but similarly valued. These stocks are Federal-Mogul Corporation (NASDAQ:FDML), Halyard Health Inc (NYSE:HYH), Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE:SWC), and Diebold Incorporated (NYSE:DBD). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to OIS’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $528 million. That figure was $79 million in OIS’s case. Halyard Health Inc (NYSE:HYH) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Federal-Mogul Corporation (NASDAQ:FDML) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard HYH might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None