Hedge Funds Are Dumping PICO Holdings Inc (PICO)

PICO Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PICO) was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. PICO investors should pay attention to a decrease in hedge fund sentiment in recent months. There were 10 hedge funds in our database with PICO holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of gauges market participants can use to analyze Mr. Market. Some of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are a number of stimuli for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a peek at the latest action encompassing PICO Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PICO).

How are hedge funds trading PICO Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PICO)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -20% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the largest position in PICO Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PICO). Royce & Associates has a $50 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is D. E. Shaw of D E Shaw, with a $0.9 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and David Cohen and Harold Levy’s Iridian Asset Management.

Judging by the fact that PICO Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PICO) has experienced declining sentiment from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few money managers that decided to sell off their full holdings in Q1. Intriguingly, John Khoury’s Long Pond Capital said goodbye to the biggest position of the 450+ funds we track, totaling close to $0.7 million in stock.. Mike Vranos’s fund, Ellington, also dumped its stock, about $0.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds in Q1.

What have insiders been doing with PICO Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PICO)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, PICO Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PICO) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and PICO Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PICO) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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