Is Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) a Good Stock To Buy?

As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers have been driving this bullishness. Christopher James’ Partner Fund Management assembled the most valuable position in Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP). Partner Fund Management had $100.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management also made a $95.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new UNP positions are Doug Silverman and Alexander Klabin’s Senator Investment Group, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Robert Pohly’s Samlyn Capital.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Westpac Banking Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:WBK), Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ), Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW), and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to UNP’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 42 funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $3.46 billion at the end of September. That figure was $2.50 billion in UNP’s case. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) is the most popular stock in this table with 68 funds holding shares. On the other hand, Westpac Banking Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:WBK) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.