Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Bitauto Hldg Ltd (ADR) (BITA)

Since Bitauto Hldg Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:BITA) has faced a falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there is a sect of hedgies who were dropping their entire stakes heading into Q4. Interestingly, OZ Management said goodbye to the largest position of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, totaling about $47 million in stock, and Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $33.9 million worth of shares. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 8 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Bitauto Hldg Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:BITA) but similarly valued. These stocks are Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR), RSP Permian Inc (NYSE:RSPP), West Corp (NASDAQ:WSTC), and OM Asset Management PLC (NYSE:OMAM). This group of stocks’ market caps is similar to Bitauto Hldg Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:BITA)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 19 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $203 million. That figure was $145 million in Bitauto Hldg Ltd (ADR) (BITA)’s case. Darling International Inc. (NYSE:DAR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, OM Asset Management PLC (NYSE:OMAM) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, Bitauto Hldg Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:BITA) is even less popular than OM Asset Management PLC (NYSE:OMAM). 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.