Hedge Funds Are Buying THL Credit, Inc. (TCRD)

THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD) investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many gauges market participants can use to track stocks. A pair of the most useful 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 top money managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Equally as integral, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are lots of motivations for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a peek at the key action regarding THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD).

What have hedge funds been doing with THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 11% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors had the most valuable position in THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD), worth close to $18.4 million, accounting for 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Silver Capital Management LLC, managed by Bruce Silver, which held a $4.2 million position; 4.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners, Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

As one would reasonably expect, key money managers have jumped into THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD) headfirst. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, established the most valuable position in THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD). Citadel Investment Group had 0.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management also made a $0.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD) has seen 5 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD). These stocks are Capital Southwest Corporation (NASDAQ:CSWC), Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (NYSE:WHG), Pzena Investment Management, Inc. (NYSE:PZN), PennantPark Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:PNNT), and Noah Holdings Limited (ADR) (NYSE:NOAH). This group of stocks belong to the asset management industry and their market caps are closest to TCRD’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD) is an important part of this process.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds