Amphenol Corporation (APH): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

As aggregate interest increased, key money managers have been driving this bullishness. Laurion Capital Management, run by Benjamin A. Smith, assembled the biggest call position in Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH). According to regulatory filings, the fund had $16.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Harding’s Winton Capital Management also initiated a $4.2 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new APH investors: Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH). These stocks are Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG), Under Armour Inc (NYSE:UA), Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE:HIG), and International Paper Company (NYSE:IP). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to APH’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 30 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $628 million. That figure was $323 million in APH’s case. Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE:HIG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) is the least popular one with only 21 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH) is even less popular than RSG. 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.