Hedge Funds Are Betting On J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP)

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers have jumped into J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) headfirst. PDT Partners, managed by Peter Muller, created the biggest position in J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP). PDT Partners had $33.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also initiated an $19.7 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new JCP investors: Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors, Robert Raiff’s Raiff Partners, and Jody LaNasa and Vivian Lau’s Serengeti Asset Management.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) but similarly valued. These stocks are Lithia Motors Inc (NYSE:LAD), BWX Technologies Inc (NYSE:BWXT), Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK), and Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to JCP’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 24.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $291 million. That figure was $424 million in JCP’s case. Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE:AHL) is the least popular one with only 22 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.