Here Is What Hedge Funds Think About Albemarle Corporation (ALB)

Judging by the fact that Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) has faced a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of hedge funds that slashed their entire stakes last quarter. Interestingly, Neil Chriss’ Hutchin Hill Capital cut the largest stake of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, comprising about $74.6 million in stock. Jim Simons’s fund, Renaissance Technologies, also sold off its stock, about $24.3 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 7 funds last quarter.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS), Owens Corning (NYSE:OC), Hubbell Incorporated (NYSE:HUB), and NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG). This group of stocks’ market caps match ALB’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 31.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $675 million. That figure was $662 million in ALB’s case. Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) 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 OC might be a better candidate to consider a long position.