The Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE:RYL) was in 15 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. RYL shareholders have witnessed a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately. There were 19 hedge funds in our database with RYL positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of methods shareholders can use to track publicly traded companies. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can outpace the market by a significant amount (see just how much).
Just as important, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of incentives for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if investors understand what to do (learn more here).
Consequently, let’s take a peek at the key action surrounding The Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE:RYL).
What does the smart money think about The Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE:RYL)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -21% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had the most valuable position in The Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE:RYL), worth close to $97 million, accounting for 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Donald Chiboucis of Columbus Circle Investors, with a $66 million position; the fund has 0.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management.
Seeing as The Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE:RYL) has faced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there exists a select few fund managers that elected to cut their positions entirely heading into 2013. Intriguingly, Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management sold off the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we track, comprising close to $17 million in stock.. Israel Englander’s fund, Millennium Management, also cut its stock, about $7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds heading into 2013.
How have insiders been trading The Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE:RYL)?
Bullish insider trading is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, The Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE:RYL) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and The Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE:RYL) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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