Here is What Hedge Funds Think About BBCN Bancorp, Inc. (BBCN)

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Because BBCN Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBCN) has faced a declination in interest from the smart money, logic holds that there were a few hedgies who were dropping their entire stakes last quarter. Interestingly, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management dropped the largest position of the 700 funds followed by Insider Monkey, with a value close to $3.4 million. George Hall of Clinton Group was right behind this move, as his fund dumped about $0.6 million worth of shares. These moves are important to note, as the total hedge fund interest fell by 1 fund last quarter.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to BBCN Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBCN). We will take a look at TopBuild Corp (NYSE:BLD), Talmer Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:TLMR), First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:FFBC), and ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ:ZIOP). This group of stocks’ market valuations is closest to BBCN Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBCN)’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
BLD 23 241387 20
TLMR 14 84803 -1
FFBC 11 26022 3
ZIOP 9 48308 -6

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 14 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $100 million. That figure was $50 million in BBCN Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBCN)’s case. TopBuild Corp (NYSE:BLD) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ:ZIOP) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, BBCN Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBCN) is even less popular than ZIOP. 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.

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