Should You Buy AEGON N.V. (ADR) (AEG)?

As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Renaissance Technologies created the most valuable position in AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG) at the end of the quarter. Stevens Capital Management also initiated a $0.4 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG). We will take a look at News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA), Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK), Alleghany Corporation (NYSE:Y), and Regency Centers Corp (NYSE:REG). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to AEG’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 26 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $648 million. That figure was $11 million in AEG’s case. Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Regency Centers Corp (NYSE:REG) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG) is even less popular than REG. 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.

Disclosure: None