Is First Midwest Bancorp Inc (FMBI) a Good Stock to Buy?

Due to the fact that First Midwest Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:FMBI) has experienced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of money managers that elected to cut their positions entirely in the third quarter. Intriguingly, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management said goodbye to the largest investment of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, valued at about $1.9 million in stock. Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s fund, Marshall Wace LLP, also sold off its stock, about $1 million worth.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as First Midwest Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:FMBI) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD), Chico’s FAS, Inc. (NYSE:CHS), Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC), and Lifelock Inc (NYSE:LOCK). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to FMBI’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 18 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $163 million. That figure was $88 million in FMBI’s case. Lifelock Inc (NYSE:LOCK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. First Midwest Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:FMBI) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard LOCK might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None