Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About United States Cellular Corporation (USM) Anymore

Because United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) has experienced falling interest from the smart money, we can see that there is a sect of money managers who sold off their positions entirely heading into Q4. At the top of the heap, David Warren’s DW Partners cut the largest stake of all the hedgies watched by Insider Monkey, totaling an estimated $2.2 million in stock. Glenn Russell Dubin’s fund, Highbridge Capital Management, also sold off its stock, about $2.1 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM). We will take a look at Controladora Vuela Co Avcn SA CV (ADR) (NYSE:VLRS), Charles River Laboratories (NYSE:CRL), Leidos Holdings Inc (NYSE:LDOS), and EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble USM’s market cap.

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 $189 million. That figure was $147 million in USM’s case. Charles River Laboratories (NYSE:CRL) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Controladora Vuela Co Avcn SA CV (ADR) (NYSE:VLRS) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) is even less popular than VLRS. 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.