Is AU Optronics Corp (ADR) (AUO) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Since AU Optronics Corp (ADR) (NYSE:AUO) has witnessed a falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there were a few hedge funds that elected to cut their full holdings last quarter. At the top of the heap, Principal Global Investors’ Columbus Circle Investors said goodbye to the largest stake of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, totaling an estimated $1.7 million in stock, and Leon Shaulov’s Maplelane Capital was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $1.4 million worth of shares.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to AU Optronics Corp (ADR) (NYSE:AUO). We will take a look at First Citizens BancShares Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA), Telecom Argentina S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TEO), Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS), and Tallgrass Energy Partners LP (NYSE:TEP). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble AUO’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 10 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $122 million. That figure was $57 million in AUO’s case. Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Tallgrass Energy Partners LP(NYSE:TEP) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. AU Optronics Corp (ADR) (NYSE:AUO) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard WBS might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None