Is TrustCo Bank Corp NY (TRST) A Good Stock to Buy?

We view hedge fund activity in the stock as unfavorable, but in this case there was only a single hedge fund selling its entire position: Balyasny Asset Management. One hedge fund selling its entire position doesn’t always imply a bearish intent. Theoretically a hedge fund may decide to sell a promising position in order to invest the proceeds in a more promising idea. However, we don’t think this is the case in this case because only one of the 800+ hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey identified as a viable investment and initiated a position in the stock (that fund was Highbridge Capital Management).

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST). We will take a look at Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC), Civitas Solutions Inc (NYSE:CIVI), MGP Ingredients Inc (NASDAQ:MGPI), and Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO). This group of stocks’ market caps resemble TRST’s market cap.

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 $36 million. That figure was $75 million in TRST’s case. Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Civitas Solutions Inc (NYSE:CIVI) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) 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.

Disclosure: None