Is The Valspar Corp (VAL) A Good Stock To Buy?

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As industry-wide interest jumped, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Tyrus Capital, led by Tony Chedraoui, initiated the biggest position in The Valspar Corp (NYSE:VAL). Tyrus Capital had $40.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP also initiated a $15.7 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new VAL investors: James Dondero’s Highland Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to The Valspar Corp (NYSE:VAL). We will take a look at Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX), Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU), and Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN). This group of stocks’ market valuations match VAL’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
VRX 58 2814175 -2
BRX 17 166341 -1
LULU 26 679455 -2
VRSN 26 2169028 -4

As you can see these stocks had an average of 32 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1.46 billion. That figure was $553 million in VAL’s case. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Brixmor Property Group Inc (NYSE:BRX) is the least popular one with only 17 bullish hedge fund positions. The Valspar Corp (NYSE:VAL) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard VRX might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None

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