Weingarten Realty Investors (WRI): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers have jumped into Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI) headfirst. Nine Chapters Capital Management, managed by Chao Ku, assembled the largest position in Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI). Nine Chapters Capital Management had $2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. George Hall’s Clinton Group also made a $0.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new WRI positions are Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Visteon Corp (NYSE:VC), Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE:ORI), Juno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JUNO), and United Microelectronics Corp (ADR) (NYSE:UMC). This group of stocks’ market values match WRI’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 $445 million. That figure was $58 million in WRI’s case. Visteon Corp (NYSE:VC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand United Microelectronics Corp (ADR) (NYSE:UMC) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI) 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 VC might be a better candidate to consider a long position.