Is Matson Inc (MATX) A Good Stock To Buy?

Judging by the fact that Matson Inc (NYSE:MATX) has experienced a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few funds who sold off their entire stakes by the end of the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Peter Muller’s PDT Partners cut the largest position of the 700 funds tracked by Insider Monkey, worth an estimated $2.5 million in stock, and Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $1.6 million worth.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Matson Inc (NYSE:MATX) but similarly valued. These stocks are Alexander & Baldwin Inc (NYSE:ALEX), Capitol Federal Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFFN), Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG), and InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to MATX’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 17.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $237 million. That figure was $47 million in MATX’s case. Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Capitol Federal Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFFN) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Matson Inc (NYSE:MATX) 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 STNG might be a better candidate to consider a long position.