Is BRE Properties Inc (NYSE:BRE) a bargain? The best stock pickers are betting on the stock. The number of long hedge fund positions advanced by 5 lately.
To most market participants, hedge funds are seen as slow, old investment tools of years past. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at the moment, we look at the bigwigs of this club, around 450 funds. It is estimated that this group controls the majority of the smart money’s total asset base, and by tracking their top investments, we have uncovered a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have topped the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (see all of our picks from August).
Equally as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the financial markets. There are a number of incentives for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, let’s take a glance at the key action regarding BRE Properties Inc (NYSE:BRE).
How have hedgies been trading BRE Properties Inc (NYSE:BRE)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 71% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.
According to our comprehensive database, James H. Litinsky’s JHL Capital Group had the largest call position in BRE Properties Inc (NYSE:BRE), worth close to $87.1 million, comprising 12.8% of its total 13F portfolio. On JHL Capital Group’s heels is AEW Capital Management, managed by Jeffrey Furber, which held a $32.1 million position; 0.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
As one would reasonably expect, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. JHL Capital Group, managed by James H. Litinsky, created the biggest call position in BRE Properties Inc (NYSE:BRE). JHL Capital Group had 87.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jeffrey Furber’s AEW Capital Management also initiated a $32.1 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new BRE investors: Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital and Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments.
How are insiders trading BRE Properties Inc (NYSE:BRE)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time period, BRE Properties Inc (NYSE:BRE) has seen 1 unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to BRE Properties Inc (NYSE:BRE). These stocks are American Campus Communities, Inc. (NYSE:ACC), Two Harbors Investment Corp (NYSE:TWO), Apartment Investment and Management Co. (NYSE:AIV), Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS), and Home Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HME). This group of stocks are in the reit – residential industry and their market caps match BRE’s market cap.
