Do Hedge Funds Love Union Bankshares Corp (UBSH)?

Page 2 of 2

As one would reasonably expect, some big names were breaking ground themselves. PDT Partners, managed by Peter Muller, established the most valuable position in Union Bankshares Corp (NASDAQ:UBSH). PDT Partners had $0.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management also made a $0.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is David Cohen and Harold Levy’s Iridian Asset Management.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Union Bankshares Corp (NASDAQ:UBSH). We will take a look at Lendingtree Inc (NASDAQ:TREE), Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY), Caesarstone Sdot-Yam Ltd (NASDAQ:CSTE), and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (NASDAQ:RRGB). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to UBSH’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
TREE 24 124278 6
KRNY 22 164038 1
CSTE 22 100532 5
RRGB 21 110890 -4

As you can see these stocks had an average of 22.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $125 million. That figure was $22 million in UBSH’s case. Lendingtree Inc (NASDAQ:TREE) is the most popular stock in this table, while Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (NASDAQ:RRGB) is the least popular one with only 21 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Union Bankshares Corp (NASDAQ:UBSH) is even less popular than RRGB. 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 required.

Page 2 of 2