Now, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Point State Capital, managed by Zach Schreiber, established the largest position in Western Refining, Inc. (NYSE:WNR). Point State Capital had $43.1 million invested in the company at the end of the third quater. Vince Maddi and Shawn Brennan’s SIR Capital Management also made a $8.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new WNR investors: Curtis Macnguyen’s Ivory Capital (Investment Mgmt), Michael Platt and William Reeves’s BlueCrest Capital Mgmt., and Richard Driehaus’ Driehaus Capital.
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Western Refining, Inc. (NYSE:WNR) but similarly valued. These stocks are Universal Forest Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFPI), Hawk Corporation (NYSE:HAWK), Grand Canyon Education Inc (NASDAQ:LOPE), and Abengoa Yield PLC (NASDAQ:ABY). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble WNR’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| UFPI | 14 | 83423 | -1 |
| HAWK | 31 | 327962 | 9 |
| LOPE | 19 | 133360 | 0 |
| ABY | 13 | 385412 | 1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 19 funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $233 million. That figure was $300 million in WNR’s case. Hawk Corporation (NYSE:HAWK) is the most popular stock in this table with 31 funds reporting long positions as of the end of September. On the other hand Abengoa Yield PLC (NASDAQ:ABY) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Western Refining, Inc. (NYSE:WNR) 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 Hawk Corporation (NYSE:HAWK) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
