Should You Add Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) to Your Portfolio?

Now, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, initiated the biggest call position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ). Citadel Investment Group had $79.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management also made a $64.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, James H. Litinsky’s JHL Capital Group, and Michael Platt and William Reeves’s BlueCrest Capital Mgmt..

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ). We will take a look at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to VZ’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 81 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $9.67 billion. On the other hand, that figure was $3.18 billion in Verizon’s case. With 98 investors holding shares, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is the least popular one with only 71 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is even less popular than Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT). 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.