Is Rite Aid Corporation (RAD) Worthy of Your Portfolio?

As industrywide interest jumped, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Highfields Capital Management, led by Jonathon Jacobson, assembled the biggest position in Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD). Highfields Capital Management had $100 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Singer’s Elliott Management also initiated a $24.5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Eric Mindich’s Eton Park Capital, Carl Tiedemann and Michael Tiedemann’s TIG Advisors, and Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD) but similarly valued. These stocks are Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE:VAR), Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc (NYSE:Q), and UGI Corp (NYSE:UGI). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to RAD’s market value.

On average, 22 funds from our database held shares of each of these stocks at the end of September, while the average amount invested amounts to $584.10 million. On the other hand, in Rite Aid Corporation, the 54 funds amassed $1.30 billion at the end of September. Among the stocks from the table, Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc (NYSE:Q) was the most popular, while Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE:VAR) is the least popular one with only 15 funds holding shares. As we can see, Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD) is considerably more popular than these stocks, which suggests that it may represent a good addition to your portfolio, although more research may be required.