To many market players, hedge funds are viewed as delayed, outdated investment vehicles of a forgotten age. Although there are In excess of 8,000 hedge funds in operation currently, Insider Monkey looks at the elite of this club, about 525 funds. It is widely held that this group oversees the lion’s share of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by watching their highest performing investments, we’ve brought to light a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year 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 trumped the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (find the details here).
Equally as crucial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to look at the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of incentives for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
Now that that’s out of the way, it’s important to discuss the newest info for Enstar Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESGR).
How have hedgies been trading Enstar Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESGR)?
Heading into Q3, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 50% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, Charles Akre’s Akre Capital Management had the most valuable position in Enstar Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESGR), worth close to $66.2 million, comprising 3% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Diamond Hill Capital, managed by Ric Dillon, which held a $12.6 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedgies with similar optimism include Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
As one would understandably expect, certain bigger names were breaking ground themselves. Akre Capital Management, managed by Charles Akre, created the most valuable position in Enstar Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESGR). Akre Capital Management had 66.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital also made a $12.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Enstar Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESGR)?
Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time frame, Enstar Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESGR) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Enstar Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESGR). These stocks are Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR), The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG), MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI), Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY), and Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH). All of these stocks are in the property & casualty insurance industry and their market caps are closest to ESGR’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) | 40 | 0 | 0 |
| Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns shown by the previously mentioned strategies, average investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Enstar Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESGR) is no exception.
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