Is CoBiz Financial Inc (COBZ) A Good Stock To Buy?

As aggregate interest increased, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Citadel Investment Group, led by Ken Griffin, assembled the most valuable position in CoBiz Financial Inc (NASDAQ:COBZ). Citadel Investment Group had $0.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Sharif Siddiqui’s Alpenglow Capital also made a $0.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as CoBiz Financial Inc (NASDAQ:COBZ) but similarly valued. These stocks are Student Transportation Inc (NASDAQ:STB), First Trust High Income Long/short Fund (NYSE:FSD), Rudolph Technologies Inc (NYSE:RTEC), and Unitil Corporation (NYSE:UTL). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to COBZ’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 $44 million. That figure was $19 million in COBZ’s case. Rudolph Technologies Inc (NYSE:RTEC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand First Trust High Income Long/short Fund (NYSE:FSD) is the least popular one with only 3 bullish hedge fund positions. CoBiz Financial Inc (NASDAQ:COBZ) 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 RTEC might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None