With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers have jumped into Retail Opportunity Investments Corp (NASDAQ:ROIC) headfirst. PDT Partners, managed by Peter Muller, initiated the largest position in Retail Opportunity Investments Corp (NASDAQ:ROIC). PDT Partners had $1.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors also initiated a $0.2 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Retail Opportunity Investments Corp (NASDAQ:ROIC) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Simpson Manufacturing Co, Inc. (NYSE:SSD), Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP), Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI), and New York REIT Inc (NYSE:NYRT). This group of stocks’ market values resemble ROIC’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSD | 8 | 185774 | -2 |
| ARLP | 5 | 21423 | -1 |
| HI | 20 | 70529 | -1 |
| NYRT | 16 | 40286 | -4 |
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 $80 million, slightly below than $97 million in ROIC’s case. Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Retail Opportunity Investments Corp (NASDAQ:ROIC) 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 HI might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
