Hedge Fund Interest in EP Energy Corp (EPE) Is Cooling Off

Seeing as EP Energy Corp (NYSE:EPE) has experienced a decline in interest from the smart money, logic holds that there exists a select few hedge funds who were dropping their entire stakes in the third quarter. Interestingly, Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management sold off the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, worth an estimated $5.7 million, and Martin Whitman of Third Avenue Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $4.2 million worth of stock. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as EP Energy Corp (NYSE:EPE) but similarly valued. We will take a look at HFF, Inc. (NYSE:HF), United Community Banks Inc (NASDAQ:UCBI), Global Blood Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:GBT), and Multi-Color Corporation (NASDAQ:LABL). This group of stocks’ market values match EPE’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 $149 million. HFF, Inc. (NYSE:HF) is the most popular stock in this table, while Multi-Color Corporation (NASDAQ:LABL) is the laggard, with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. With 19 elite funds invested, EP Energy Corp (NYSE:EPE) is clearly leading the pack, however the value of their investments is below the average and stands at $96 million. This is not a positive sign and we think it may be a good idea to further analyze the stock before deciding whether to include it in your portfolio or not.