Is Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) A Good Stock To Buy?

Judging by the fact that Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD) has experienced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there were a few hedgies who were dropping their positions entirely heading into Q4. Interestingly, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management dropped the biggest stake of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, worth about $24.1 million in stock. Andy Redleaf’s fund, Whitebox Advisors, also said goodbye to its investment, about $7.8 million worth of BWLD shares. These moves are important to note, as total hedge fund interest fell by 5 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ:ALGT), Symetra Financial Corporation (NYSE:SYA), Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO), and Highwoods Properties Inc (NYSE:HIW). This group of stocks’ market caps resemble BWLD’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 23 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $393 million. That figure was $357 million in BWLD’s case. Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) is the most popular stock in this table, while Highwoods Properties Inc (NYSE:HIW) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD) 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 AGO might be a better candidate to consider a long position.