Is Esterline Technologies Corporation (ESL) a Good Buy?

Since Esterline Technologies Corporation (NYSE:ESL) has faced a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there were a few hedge funds that decided to sell off their entire stakes in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Ralph V. Whitworth’s Relational Investors sold off the biggest position of the 700 funds followed by Insider Monkey, comprising about $205.3 million in stock. David S. Winter and David J. Millstone’s fund, 40 North Management, also sold off its stock, about $66.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Esterline Technologies Corporation (NYSE:ESL) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Parsley Energy Inc (NYSE:PE), Tri Pointe Homes Inc (NYSE:TPH), Fulton Financial Corp (NASDAQ:FULT), and Northern Tier Energy LP (NYSE:NTI). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to ESL’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 15.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $243 million. That figure was $444 million in ESL’s case. Parsley Energy Inc (NYSE:PE) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Fulton Financial Corp (NASDAQ:FULT) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Esterline Technologies Corporation (NYSE:ESL) is among the most popular stocks in this group and that makes it worth a closer look.