Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (COKE): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Due to the fact that Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (NASDAQ:COKE) has witnessed falling interest from hedge fund managers, we can see that there is a sect of funds that elected to cut their positions entirely last quarter. Intriguingly, Roger Ibbotson’s Zebra Capital Management dumped the biggest stake of the 700 funds tracked by Insider Monkey, comprising an estimated $0.6 million in stock, and Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $0.5 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds last quarter.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (NASDAQ:COKE) but similarly valued. These stocks are Parkway Properties Inc (NYSE:PKY), Media General, Inc. (NYSE:MEG), MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI), and Lexmark International Inc (NYSE:LXK). This group of stocks’ market valuations match COKE’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 $320 million. That figure was $53 million in COKE’s case. Media General, Inc. (NYSE:MEG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Parkway Properties Inc (NYSE:PKY) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (NASDAQ:COKE) is even less popular than PKY. 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.