Should Symetra Financial Corporation (NYSE:SYA) investors track the following data?
To many traders, hedge funds are seen as overrated, old investment vehicles of a forgotten age. Although there are In excess of 8,000 hedge funds trading today, this site looks at the moguls of this club, about 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group controls the lion’s share of the smart money’s total capital, and by paying attention to their highest performing investments, we’ve uncovered a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped 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 33 percentage points in 11 months (find the details here).
Equally as key, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to analyze the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are many motivations for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors know what to do (learn more here).
Furthermore, it’s important to analyze the recent info about Symetra Financial Corporation (NYSE:SYA).
What have hedge funds been doing with Symetra Financial Corporation (NYSE:SYA)?
In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 13% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.
Out of the hedge funds we follow, Osterweis Capital Management, managed by John Osterweis, holds the biggest position in Symetra Financial Corporation (NYSE:SYA). Osterweis Capital Management has a $48.2 million position in the stock, comprising 1.8% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Fine Capital Partners, managed by Debra Fine, which held a $24.9 million position; the fund has 2.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Michael Price’s MFP Investors, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management.
With a general bullishness amongst the titans, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Osterweis Capital Management, managed by John Osterweis, assembled the most outsized position in Symetra Financial Corporation (NYSE:SYA). Osterweis Capital Management had 48.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Debra Fine’s Fine Capital Partners also initiated a $24.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new SYA positions are Michael Price’s MFP Investors, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, and David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management.
How have insiders been trading Symetra Financial Corporation (NYSE:SYA)?
Insider buying made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time frame, Symetra Financial Corporation (NYSE:SYA) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Symetra Financial Corporation (NYSE:SYA). These stocks are Aviva Plc (ADR) (NYSE:AV), National Western Life Insurance Company (NASDAQ:NWLI), Protective Life Corp. (NYSE:PL), American Equity Investment Life Holding (NYSE:AEL), and Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI). This group of stocks belong to the life insurance industry and their market caps are similar to SYA’s market cap.
