Is Basic Energy Services, Inc (BAS) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Judging by the fact that Basic Energy Services, Inc (NYSE:BAS) has experienced declining sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there is a sect of hedgies that elected to cut their positions entirely heading into Q4. At the top of the heap, Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital sold off the biggest investment of all the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, valued at about $12.6 million in stock, and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $9.7 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 5 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Basic Energy Services, Inc (NYSE:BAS). We will take a look at Republic First Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRBK), Nordic American Offshore Ltd (NYSE:NAO), QLT Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:QLTI), and Twin Disc, Incorporated (NASDAQ:TWIN). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to BAS’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 9 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $31 million, compared to $33 million in BAS’s case. QLT Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:QLTI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Republic First Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRBK) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Basic Energy Services, Inc (NYSE:BAS) 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 QLTI might be a better candidate to consider a long position.