Consequently, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Visium Asset Management, managed by Jacob Gottlieb, initiated the largest position in Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG). Visium Asset Management had $9.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management also initiated an $8.8 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Lawrence Sapanski’s Scoria Capital, George Hall’s Clinton Group, and Peter Muller’s PDT Partners.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG). We will take a look at Extended Stay America Inc (NYSE:STAY), J2 Global Inc (NASDAQ:JCOM), PAREXEL International Corporation (NASDAQ:PRXL), and Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX). This group of stocks’ market valuations is closest to Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| STAY | 16 | 1685498 | 3 |
| JCOM | 14 | 116950 | 1 |
| PRXL | 13 | 306752 | -8 |
| NBIX | 36 | 696872 | 5 |
As you can see, these stocks had an average of 20 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $702 million. That figure was $164 million in Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)’s case. Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, PAREXEL International Corporation (NASDAQ:PRXL) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal, but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard, Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
