How The Cooper Companies Inc (COO) Stacks Up Against Its Peers

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Now, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Millennium Management established the biggest position in The Cooper Companies Inc (NYSE:COO). According to regulatory filings, the fund had $29.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Principal Global Investors’ Columbus Circle Investors also made a $21.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, James Dondero’s Highland Capital Management, and David E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as The Cooper Companies Inc (NYSE:COO) but similarly valued. We will take a look at The WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV), LG Display Co Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:LPL), Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:ALLY), and Bunge Ltd (NYSE:BG). This group of stocks’ market values resemble COO’s market value.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
WWAV 38 1813467 1
LPL 12 46029 -1
ALLY 50 2271501 1
BG 23 782864 -10

As you can see these stocks had an average of 31 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1.23 billion. That figure was a meager $329 million in COO’s case. Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:ALLY) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand LG Display Co Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:LPL) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. The Cooper Companies Inc (NYSE:COO) 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 ALLY might be a better candidate to consider a long position in.

Disclosure: None

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