Hedge Funds Are Betting On Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (BNCL)

Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL) has experienced an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late.

At the moment, there are many indicators shareholders can use to watch publicly traded companies. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can beat their index-focused peers by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as important, positive insider trading activity is another way to parse down the marketplace. Obviously, there are many incentives for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if you understand what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a peek at the recent action regarding Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL).

What have hedge funds been doing with Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 40% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Highfields Capital Management, managed by Jonathon Jacobson, holds the most valuable position in Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL). Highfields Capital Management has a $10.3 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Hovde Capital, managed by Eric D. Hovde, which held a $1.5 million position; 1.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Consequently, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, initiated the biggest position in Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL). D E Shaw had 0.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Howard Guberman’s Gruss Asset Management also initiated a $0.3 million position during the quarter.

How are insiders trading Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL) has seen 1 unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL). These stocks are Oritani Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:ORIT), First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF), Independent Bank Corp (NASDAQ:INDB), NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB), and Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH). This group of stocks are the members of the regional – northeast banks industry and their market caps are similar to BNCL’s market cap.