Protective Life Corp. (NYSE:PL) was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. PL has seen an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 13 hedge funds in our database with PL holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
At the moment, there are dozens of methods investors can use to analyze stocks. A couple of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. Obviously, there are a variety of incentives for a corporate insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if you understand what to do (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action surrounding Protective Life Corp. (NYSE:PL).
How have hedgies been trading Protective Life Corp. (NYSE:PL)?
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 8% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had the largest position in Protective Life Corp. (NYSE:PL), worth close to $63.8 million, comprising 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Dreman Value Management, managed by David Dreman, which held a $40 million position; 1.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Now, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Parameter Capital Management, managed by Anil Stevens and Glenn Shapiro, created the biggest position in Protective Life Corp. (NYSE:PL). Parameter Capital Management had 4.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management also made a $0.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
Insider trading activity in Protective Life Corp. (NYSE:PL)
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Protective Life Corp. (NYSE:PL) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Protective Life Corp. (NYSE:PL). These stocks are Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW), Symetra Financial Corporation (NYSE:SYA), Reinsurance Group of America Inc (NYSE:RGA), Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI), and Aviva Plc (ADR) (NYSE:AV). All of these stocks are in the life insurance industry and their market caps are closest to PL’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW) | 39 | 1 | 1 |
| Symetra Financial Corporation (NYSE:SYA) | 15 | 0 | 1 |
| Reinsurance Group of America Inc (NYSE:RGA) | 19 | 0 | 5 |
| Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Aviva Plc (ADR) (NYSE:AV) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Protective Life Corp. (NYSE:PL) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
