We at Insider Monkey have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the SEC. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30th. In this article we look at what those investors think of American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT).
American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT) investors should be aware of an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately. ANAT was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2018. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with ANAT holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that ANAT isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
According to most shareholders, hedge funds are seen as worthless, outdated financial tools of years past. While there are more than 8,000 funds in operation today, We choose to focus on the bigwigs of this club, about 700 funds. It is estimated that this group of investors command the majority of the smart money’s total capital, and by tailing their top equity investments, Insider Monkey has brought to light a number of investment strategies that have historically surpassed the market. Insider Monkey’s flagship hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 6 percentage points annually since its inception in May 2014 through early November 2018. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 24% since February 2017 (through December 3rd) even though the market was up nearly 23% during the same period. We just shared a list of 11 short targets in our latest quarterly update.
Let’s review the key hedge fund action encompassing American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT).
How have hedgies been trading American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 8% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards ANAT over the last 13 quarters. So, let’s examine which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the most valuable position in American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT). Renaissance Technologies has a $27.9 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is GLG Partners, led by Noam Gottesman, holding a $5.4 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers with similar optimism include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, initiated the biggest position in American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT). Arrowstreet Capital had $1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jeffrey Talpins’s Element Capital Management also initiated a $0.3 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Brandon Haley’s Holocene Advisors.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT) but similarly valued. These stocks are PS Business Parks Inc (NYSE:PSB), Qualys Inc (NASDAQ:QLYS), Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR), and Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to ANAT’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSB | 6 | 60694 | -2 |
| QLYS | 18 | 220821 | 1 |
| LAUR | 20 | 232602 | 6 |
| HELE | 12 | 155994 | -2 |
| Average | 14 | 167528 | 0.75 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 14 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $168 million. That figure was $41 million in ANAT’s case. Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand PS Business Parks Inc (NYSE:PSB) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard LAUR might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
