Here is What Hedge Funds Think About HomeStreet Inc (HMST)

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Is HomeStreet Inc (NASDAQ:HMST) a good bet right now? We like to analyze hedge fund sentiment before doing days of in-depth research. We do so because hedge funds and other elite investors have numerous Ivy league graduates, expert network advisers, and supply chain tipsters working or consulting for them. There is not a shortage of news stories covering failed hedge fund investments (for some reason media paid a ton of attention to Ackman’s gigantic JC Penney and Valeant failures) and it is a fact that hedge funds’ picks don’t beat the market 100% of the time, but their consensus picks have historically done very well and have outperformed the market after adjusting for risk.

Is HomeStreet Inc (NASDAQ:HMST) the right investment to pursue these days? Investors who are in the know are turning less bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund positions decreased by 1 in recent months. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as First Trust High Income Long/short Fund (NYSE:FSD), SunCoke Energy, Inc (NYSE:SXC), and Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. (NYSE:HLX) to gather more data points.

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With all of this in mind, we’re going to analyze the latest action encompassing HomeStreet Inc (NASDAQ:HMST).

What have hedge funds been doing with HomeStreet Inc (NASDAQ:HMST)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -8% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the most valuable position in HomeStreet Inc (NASDAQ:HMST). Renaissance Technologies has a $4.4 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On Renaissance Technologies’s heels is Consector Capital, led by William Black, holding a $3.1 million position; the fund has 3.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that are bullish include Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management, Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

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