Hanmi Financial Corp (HAFC): Hedge Funds Are Snapping Up

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With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. AlphaOne Capital Partners initiated the largest position in Hanmi Financial Corp (NASDAQ:HAFC). AlphaOne Capital Partners had $3.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management also initiated an $2.9 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new HAFC investors: Neil Chriss’ Hutchin Hill Capital, Peter Muller’s PDT Partners, and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Hanmi Financial Corp (NASDAQ:HAFC). We will take a look at LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG), WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS), Amplify Snack Brands Inc (NYSE:BETR), and Pampa Energia S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:PAM). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to HAFC’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
LHCG 20 107498 3
WSFS 9 51895 -1
BETR 13 78005 13
PAM 10 91727 1

As you can see these stocks had an average of 13 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $82 million. That figure was $72 million in HAFC’s case. LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Hanmi Financial Corp (NASDAQ:HAFC) is not the least popular stock in this group, with the number of funds with long positions equal to the average for the four aforementioned stocks. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard LHCG might be a better candidate to consider a long position.

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