Is SunTrust Banks, Inc. (STI) a Good Stock to Buy?

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Carlson Capital, managed by Clint Carlson, assembled the biggest position in SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI). Carlson Capital had $55.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group also made a $22.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management and Solomon Kumin’s Folger Hill Asset Management.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI) but similarly valued. These stocks are Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB), TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL), Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP), and Sun Life Financial Inc. (USA) (NYSE:SLF). This group of stocks’ market values match STI’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 20 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $410 million. That figure was $693 million in STI’s case. With 27 funds holding its shares, Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Sun Life Financial Inc. (USA) (NYSE:SLF) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI) 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.