Orbotech Ltd (ORBK): Hedge Fund Sentiment Unchanged

Earlier we told you that the aggregate hedge fund interest in the stock was unchanged and we view this as a negative development. Even though there weren’t any hedge funds dumping their holdings during the third quarter, there weren’t any hedge funds initiating brand new positions. This indicates that hedge funds, at the very best, perceive this stock as dead money and they haven’t identified any viable catalysts that can attract investor attention.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Orbotech Ltd (NASDAQ:ORBK). These stocks are ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE:ACCO), Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT), Amplify Snack Brands Inc (NYSE:BETR), and Innospec Inc. (NASDAQ:IOSP). This group of stocks’ market values match ORBK’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 15 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $94 million. That figure was $153 million in ORBK’s case. ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE:ACCO) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Amplify Snack Brands Inc (NYSE:BETR) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Orbotech Ltd (NASDAQ:ORBK) 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 ACCO might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None