TFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:TFSL) was in 16 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. TFSL shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund sentiment recently. There were 15 hedge funds in our database with TFSL positions at the end of the previous quarter.
To the average investor, there are many metrics shareholders can use to track Mr. Market. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can outclass the market by a significant margin (see just how much).
Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is another way to parse down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of incentives for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).
Consequently, let’s take a look at the key action regarding TFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:TFSL).
How have hedgies been trading TFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:TFSL)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 7% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Empyrean Capital Partners, managed by Michael A. Price and Amos Meron, holds the most valuable position in TFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:TFSL). Empyrean Capital Partners has a $65 million position in the stock, comprising 1.4% of its 13F portfolio. On Empyrean Capital Partners’s heels is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $53.2 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers that are bullish include Debra Fine’s Fine Capital Partners, Yale M. Fergang and Robert W. Medway’s Royal Capital and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.
Now, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Fine Capital Partners, managed by Debra Fine, created the most valuable position in TFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:TFSL). Fine Capital Partners had 6.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments also made a $1.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new TFSL positions are Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.
Insider trading activity in TFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:TFSL)
Insider buying is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, TFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:TFSL) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to TFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:TFSL). These stocks are PrivateBancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVTB), Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA), Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN), Firstmerit Corp (NASDAQ:FMER), and Associated Banc Corp (NASDAQ:ASBC). This group of stocks are the members of the regional – midwest banks industry and their market caps are similar to TFSL’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| PrivateBancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVTB) | 14 | 1 | 3 |
| Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) | 20 | 0 | 4 |
| Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) | 24 | 7 | 3 |
| Firstmerit Corp (NASDAQ:FMER) | 10 | 6 | 2 |
| Associated Banc Corp (NASDAQ:ASBC) | 9 | 3 | 3 |
With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s studies, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and TFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:TFSL) is no exception.
