Is Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc (RYAM) A Good Stock To Buy?

We can judge whether Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc (NYSE:RYAM) is a good investment right now by following the lead of some of the best investors in the world and piggybacking their ideas. There’s no better way to get these firms’ immense resources and analytical capabilities working for us than to follow their lead into their best ideas. While not all of these picks will be winners, research shows that these picks historically outperformed the market when we factor in known risk factors.

Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc (NYSE:RYAM) investors should be aware of an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Amarin Corporation plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:AMRN), Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS), and CNB Financial Corporation Inc (NASDAQ:CCNE) to gather more data points.

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With all of this in mind, let’s analyze the key action regarding Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc (NYSE:RYAM).

Hedge fund activity in Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc (NYSE:RYAM)

At Q3’s end, a total of 20 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 25% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group has the most valuable position in Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc (NYSE:RYAM), worth close to $6.9 million, corresponding to less than 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund is D E Shaw, with a $5.2 million position; less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining members of the smart money that are bullish consist of Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.

Consequently, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Steelhead Partners, managed by Michael Johnston, established the most valuable position in Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc (NYSE:RYAM). Steelhead Partners had $1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Wayne Cooperman’s Cobalt Capital Management also made a $0.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital, Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management, and Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc (NYSE:RYAM). These stocks are Amarin Corporation plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:AMRN), Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS), CNB Financial Corporation Inc (NASDAQ:CCNE), and Seneca Foods Corp (NASDAQ:SENEA). This group of stocks’ market valuations match RYAM’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
AMRN 13 50817 -1
CRIS 12 63249 0
CCNE 4 20991 1
SENEA 7 16465 2

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 $38 million. That figure was $26 million in RYAM’s case. Amarin Corporation plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:AMRN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand CNB Financial Corporation Inc (NASDAQ:CCNE) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc (NYSE:RYAM) 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.