Do Hedge Funds Love Ladder Capital Corp (LADR)?

As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Citadel Investment Group, led by Ken Griffin, initiated the largest position in Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR). Citadel Investment Group had $1.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR). These stocks are Neustar Inc (NYSE:NSR), Time Inc (NYSE:TIME), Globant SA (NYSE:GLOB), and Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc (NYSE:NSM). This group of stocks’ market values match LADR’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 15 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $128 million. That figure was $61 million in LADR’s case. Time Inc (NYSE:TIME) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Globant SA (NYSE:GLOB) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR) is even less popular than GLOB. 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