Hedge Funds Are Selling F.N.B. Corp (FNB)

F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB) was in 4 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. FNB has experienced a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with FNB holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

According to most shareholders, hedge funds are viewed as slow, outdated investment tools of the past. While there are over 8000 funds in operation at the moment, we hone in on the top tier of this club, around 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group controls the majority of the smart money’s total asset base, and by paying attention to their best stock picks, we have unearthed a number of investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are a variety of reasons for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a peek at the recent action regarding F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB).

How have hedgies been trading F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 4 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -43% from one quarter earlier.

Due to the fact that F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB) has faced falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of hedgies who sold off their entire stakes in Q1. At the top of the heap, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management dropped the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we key on, totaling close to $0.3 million in stock. D. E. Shaw’s fund, D E Shaw, also dumped its stock, about $0.2 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds in Q1.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time frame, F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB). These stocks are IBERIABANK Corporation (NASDAQ:IBKC), EverBank Financial Corp (NYSE:EVER), BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE:BXS), Bank Of The Ozarks Inc (NASDAQ:OZRK), and Trustmark Corp (NASDAQ:TRMK). This group of stocks belong to the regional – southeast banks industry and their market caps resemble FNB’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s studies, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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