Is Newport Corporation (NEWP) Going to Burn These Bullish Investors?

As aggregate interest increased, some big names have jumped into Newport Corporation (NASDAQ:NEWP) headfirst. Algert Coldiron Investors, managed by Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron, initiated the most outsized position in Newport Corporation (NASDAQ:NEWP). Algert Coldiron Investors had $0.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments also made a $0.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new NEWP investors: Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, and Michael Platt and William Reeves’ BlueCrest Capital Mgmt.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Newport Corporation (NASDAQ:NEWP) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Marten Transport, Ltd (NASDAQ:MRTN), Del Taco Restaurants Inc (NASDAQ:TACO), Agree Realty Corporation (NYSE:ADC), and LGI Homes Inc (NASDAQ:LGIH). This group of stocks’ market values resemble NEWP’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $67 million. That figure was $85 million in NEWP’s case. Del Taco Restaurants Inc (NASDAQ:TACO) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Agree Realty Corporation (NYSE:ADC) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. Newport Corporation (NASDAQ:NEWP) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard TACO might be a better candidate to consider a long position in.