Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Paramount Group Inc (PGRE)

Is Paramount Group Inc (NYSE:PGRE) a good equity to bet on right now? We like to check what the smart money thinks first before doing extensive research. Although there have been several high profile failed hedge fund picks, the consensus picks among hedge fund investors have historically outperformed the market after adjusting for known risk attributes. It’s not surprising given that hedge funds have access to better information and more resources to find the latest market-moving information.

Paramount Group Inc (NYSE:PGRE) has seen an increase in enthusiasm from smart money recently. PGRE was in 15 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with PGRE positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare PGRE to other stocks including Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN), Vermilion Energy Inc (NYSE:VET), and Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC) to get a better sense of its popularity.

With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a gander at the fresh action surrounding Paramount Group Inc (NYSE:PGRE).

How are hedge funds trading Paramount Group Inc (NYSE:PGRE)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 15 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 36% from the second quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Long Pond Capital, managed by John Khoury, holds the largest position in Paramount Group Inc (NYSE:PGRE). Long Pond Capital has a $218.8 million position in the stock, comprising 9.5% of its 13F portfolio. On Long Pond Capital’s heels is AEW Capital Management, which holds a $83.2 million position; the fund has 1.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that are bullish encompass Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, David Rodriguez-Fraile’s BlueMar Capital Management and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.

Now, key money managers have jumped into Paramount Group Inc (NYSE:PGRE) headfirst. Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, established the most valuable position in Paramount Group Inc (NYSE:PGRE). Balyasny Asset Management had $7.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital also made a $1.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new PGRE positions are Rod Hinze’s KeyPoint Capital Management, Michael Platt and William Reeves’s BlueCrest Capital Mgmt., and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Paramount Group Inc (NYSE:PGRE) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN), Vermilion Energy Inc (NYSE:VET), Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC), and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRL). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to PGRE’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 16.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $236 million. That figure was $383 million in PGRE’s case. Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Vermilion Energy Inc (NYSE:VET) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. Paramount Group Inc (NYSE:PGRE) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard EQC might be a better candidate to consider a long position.