Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Ecopetrol S.A. (ADR) (EC)

As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers have jumped into Ecopetrol S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:EC) headfirst. D E Shaw initiated a $2.2 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Millennium Management.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Ecopetrol S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:EC) but similarly valued. These stocks are EZCORP Inc (NASDAQ:EZPW), Flexion Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:FLXN), Western Asset High Yield Defined Opportunity Fund Inc. (NYSE:HYI), and Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LIOX). This group of stocks’ market caps matches Ecopetrol S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:EC)’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 $49 million. That figure was $36 million in Ecopetrol S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:EC)’s case. EZCORP Inc (NASDAQ:EZPW) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Western Asset High Yield Defined Opportunity Fund Inc. (NYSE:HYI) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Ecopetrol S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:EC) 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, EZCORP Inc (NASDAQ:EZPW) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.