What Hedge Funds Think About Citigroup Inc. (C)?

Because Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) has witnessed a decline in interest from hedge fund managers, we can see that there is a sect of hedgies that elected to cut their full holdings heading into the fourth quarter. At the top of the heap, Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group dumped the largest investment of the 700 funds followed by Insider Monkey, valued at about $219 million in ‘call’ options. Ken Griffin’s fund, Citadel Investment Group, also dumped its call options, valued at about $129.1 million. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate 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 Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) but similarly valued. We will take a look at PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR), HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HSBC), Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY), and British American Tobacco PLC (ADR) (NYSEAMEX:BTI). This group of stocks’ market values resemble Citigroup’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 $1.0 billion. That figure was $8.71 billion in Citi’s case. Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) 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.