Regency Centers Corp (REG): Hedge Funds Are Buying, Should You?

Seeing as Regency Centers Corp (NYSE:REG) has witnessed falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there were a few funds that elected to cut their positions entirely heading into Q4. At the top of the heap, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management cut the biggest investment of all the hedgies watched by Insider Monkey, valued at close to $5.2 million in stock, and Peter Muller’s PDT Partners was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $2.2 million worth of shares. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s check out the hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Regency Centers Corp (NYSE:REG). We will take a look at Columbia Pipeline Group Inc (NYSE:CPGX), Lamar Advertising Co (NASDAQ:LAMR), A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS), and Apartment Investment and Management Co. (NYSE:AIV). This group of stocks’ market values resembles Regency Centers Corp (NYSE:REG)’s market value.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $343 million. That figure was $55 million in Regency Centers Corp (NYSE:REG)’s case. A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Apartment Investment and Management Co. (NYSE:AIV) is the least popular one with only 17 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, Regency Centers Corp (NYSE:REG) is even less popular than Apartment Investment and Management Co. (NYSE:AIV). Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.