AEGON N.V. (ADR) (AEG): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

We view hedge fund activity in the stock unfavorable, but in this case there was only a single hedge fund selling its entire position: Stevens Capital Management. One hedge fund selling its entire position doesn’t always imply a bearish intent. Theoretically a hedge fund may decide to sell a promising position in order to invest the proceeds in a more promising idea. However, we don’t think this is the case here because none of the 700+ hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey identified AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG) as a viable investment and initiated a position in the stock.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG). These stocks are Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB), Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW), Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN), and Sprint Corp (NYSE:S). This group of stocks’ market valuations matches AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG)’s market valuation.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 35 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1130 million. That figure was $12 million in AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG)’s case. Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Sprint Corp (NYSE:S) is the least popular one with only 16 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG) is even less popular than Sprint Corp (NYSE:S). 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.