Hedge Funds Are Crazy About Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (BDGE)

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names have jumped into Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDGE) headfirst. Millennium Management initiated the most outsized position in Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDGE). Millennium Management had $0.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also initiated a $0.6 million position during the quarter.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDGE) but similarly valued. We will take a look at OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC), Universal American Corporation (NYSE:UAM), Sequential Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:SQBG), and Entercom Communications Corp. (NYSE:ETM). All of these stocks’ market caps are closest to BDGE’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 12 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $72 million. That figure was $66 million in BDGE’s case. OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Entercom Communications Corp. (NYSE:ETM) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDGE) is even less popular than ETM. 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 warranted.

Disclosure: None