Hedge Funds Are Betting On EPR Properties (EPR)

EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) has experienced an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months.

To most market participants, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, old investment tools of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation at present, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the moguls of this group, about 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by monitoring their highest performing investments, we have uncovered a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).

Equally as key, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the marketplace. Obviously, there are plenty of reasons for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a gander at the recent action regarding EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR).

Hedge fund activity in EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR)

Heading into Q2, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 18% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, AEW Capital Management, managed by Jeffrey Furber, holds the most valuable position in EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR). AEW Capital Management has a $74.4 million position in the stock, comprising 1.9% of its 13F portfolio. On AEW Capital Management’s heels is Cardinal Capital, managed by Amy Minella, which held a $26.1 million position; 1.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include Howard Marks’s Oaktree Capital Management, J. Alan Reid, Jr.’s Forward Management and Greg Poole’s Echo Street Capital Management.

As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, established the biggest position in EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR). Balyasny Asset Management had 4.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital also made a $3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, William Michaelcheck’s Mariner Investment Group, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

What have insiders been doing with EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR)?

Insider buying is best served when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time frame, EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) has seen 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results shown by our studies, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) is no exception.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds