What Do Hedge Funds Think of Beneficial Bancorp Inc (BNCL)?

Because Beneficial Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers who were dropping their entire stakes by the end of the third quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Howard Guberman’s Gruss Asset Management sold off the largest stake of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, valued at close to $18.7 million in stock. Peter Muller’s fund, PDT Partners, also said goodbye to its stock, about $3.9 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds by the end of the third quarter.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Beneficial Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL) but similarly valued. These stocks are The Fresh Market Inc (NASDAQ:TFM), BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI), Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR), and Forum Energy Technologies Inc (NYSE:FET). All of these stocks’ market caps match BNCL’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 15.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $85 million. That figure was $240 million in BNCL’s case. The Fresh Market Inc (NASDAQ:TFM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Forum Energy Technologies Inc (NYSE:FET) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Beneficial Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.