Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Old National Bancorp (ONB)? – Park National Corporation (PRK), MB Financial, Inc. (MBFI)

Is Old National Bancorp (NYSE:ONB) a buy here? Investors who are in the know are getting more bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund bets increased by 1 recently.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of gauges shareholders can use to track the equity markets. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a significant margin (see just how much).

Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the financial markets. Obviously, there are many incentives for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a peek at the key action encompassing Old National Bancorp (NYSE:ONB).

Hedge fund activity in Old National Bancorp (NYSE:ONB)

In preparation for this year, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 9% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the biggest position in Old National Bancorp (NYSE:ONB). Citadel Investment Group has a $21.4 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $4.9 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.

As one would reasonably expect, key money managers have jumped into Old National Bancorp (NYSE:ONB) headfirst. Two Sigma Advisors, managed by John Overdeck and David Siegel, created the most valuable position in Old National Bancorp (NYSE:ONB). Two Sigma Advisors had 0.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also initiated a $0.1 million position during the quarter.

Insider trading activity in Old National Bancorp (NYSE:ONB)

Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Old National Bancorp (NYSE:ONB) has experienced 4 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Old National Bancorp (NYSE:ONB). These stocks are Firstmerit Corp (NASDAQ:FMER), Park National Corporation (NYSEAMEX:PRK), MB Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:MBFI), PrivateBancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVTB), and Wintrust Financial Corp (NASDAQ:WTFC). This group of stocks are the members of the regional – midwest banks industry and their market caps are closest to ONB’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned studies, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Old National Bancorp (NYSE:ONB) is an important part of this process.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds