What Does Hedge Fund Sentiment Say About Rocky Brands, Inc. (RCKY)?

Since Rocky Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKY) has witnessed declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there were a few hedgies who were dropping their full holdings heading into Q4. Interestingly, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management dumped the biggest investment of the 700 funds watched by Insider Monkey, totaling close to $1 million in stock. Ken Griffin’s fund, Citadel Investment Group, also dumped its shares, about $0.7 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Rocky Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKY) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Triangle Petroleum Corporation (NYSEMKT:TPLM), Riverview Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:RVSB), A. H. Belo Corporation (NYSE:AHC), and Radio One, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROIAK). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble RCKY’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 8 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $11 million. That figure was just $5 million in RCKY’s case. Triangle Petroleum Corporation (NYSEMKT:TPLM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Riverview Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:RVSB) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Rocky Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCKY) is even less popular than RVSB. 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.