Is Essendant Inc (ESND) A Good Stock To Buy?

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have jumped into Essendant Inc (NASDAQ:ESND) headfirst. Gotham Asset Management, managed by Joel Greenblatt, created the most valuable position in Essendant Inc (NASDAQ:ESND). Gotham Asset Management had $1.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital also initiated a $0.4 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new ESND investors: Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management and Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Essendant Inc (NASDAQ:ESND) but similarly valued. These stocks are Chemical Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CHFC), Power Integrations Inc (NASDAQ:POWI), Trinseo S.A. (NYSE:TSE), and Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:NWBI). This group of stocks’ market values match ESND’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 11.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $48 million. That figure was $59 million in ESND’s case. Chemical Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CHFC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:NWBI) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Essendant Inc (NASDAQ:ESND) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.