Is South Jersey Industries Inc (SJI) A Good Stock To Buy?

As one would reasonably expect, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Stevens Capital Management, led by Matthew Tewksbury, created the most valuable position in South Jersey Industries Inc (NYSE:SJI). Stevens Capital Management had $0.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Clinton Group also made a $0.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new SJI positions are Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management and Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to South Jersey Industries Inc (NYSE:SJI). We will take a look at Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR), Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ:PODD), HB Fuller Co (NYSE:FUL), and Grifols SA, Barcelona (NASDAQ:GRFS). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to SJI’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 $207 million. That figure was $13 million in SJI’s case. Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ:PODD) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Grifols SA, Barcelona (NASDAQ:GRFS) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks South Jersey Industries Inc (NYSE:SJI) is even less popular than GRFS. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.

Disclosure: None