Is CIRCOR International, Inc. (CIR) Going to Frustrate Investors?

As aggregate interest increased, some big names have jumped into CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE:CIR) headfirst. Citadel Investment Group assembled the most outsized position in CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE:CIR). Citadel Investment Group had $0.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Millennium Management, one of the biggest hedge funds in the world, also initiated a $0.5 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new CIR investors: Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management, Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management, and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE:CIR) but similarly valued. These stocks are Forward Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:FWP), US Ecology Inc. (NASDAQ:ECOL), Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWAY), and Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA). This group of stocks’ market values match CIR’s market value.

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 $158 million. That figure was $185 million in CIR’s case. Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWAY) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand US Ecology Inc. (NASDAQ:ECOL) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE:CIR) 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 HWAY might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None