At the moment, there are a multitude of metrics shareholders can use to analyze the equity markets. Some of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a solid margin (see just how much).
Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the stock market universe. There are plenty of motivations for a corporate insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if you know where to look (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a peek at the recent action encompassing F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB).
What have hedge funds been doing with F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB)?
At year’s end, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the largest position in F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB). Citadel Investment Group has a $14.8 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $4.3 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers that are bullish include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
Seeing as F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB) has experienced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few fund managers who sold off their entire stakes heading into 2013. Intriguingly, Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital dumped the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, comprising an estimated $3.7 million in stock.. Cliff Asness’s fund, AQR Capital Management, also cut its stock, about $0.8 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
Insider trading activity in F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB)
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time frame, F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB) has seen 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB). These stocks are IBERIABANK Corporation (NASDAQ:IBKC), EverBank Financial Corp (NYSE:EVER), BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE:BXS), Bank Of The Ozarks Inc (NASDAQ:OZRK), and Trustmark Corp (NASDAQ:TRMK). All of these stocks are in the regional – southeast banks industry and their market caps are similar to FNB’s market cap.
