Is Astronics Corporation (ATRO) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Hawk Ridge Management initiated the biggest position in Astronics Corporation (NASDAQ:ATRO), followed by G2 Investment Partners Management, which made a $0.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new ATRO investors: Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Paul Tudor Jones’ Tudor Investment Corp.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Astronics Corporation (NASDAQ:ATRO). We will take a look at Q2 Holdings Inc (NYSE:QTWO), Tennant Company (NYSE:TNC), Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI), and Oxford Industries, Inc. (NYSE:OXM). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble ATRO’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 $82 million. That figure was $15 million in ATRO’s case. Oxford Industries, Inc. (NYSE:OXM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Tennant Company (NYSE:TNC) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Astronics Corporation (NASDAQ:ATRO) is even less popular than TNC. 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.

Disclosure: None