Hedge Funds Are Selling Spirit Realty Capital Inc (SRC)

In today’s marketplace, there are tons of metrics investors can use to watch their holdings. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Just as useful, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are a number of reasons for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).

Furthermore, let’s study the newest info about Spirit Realty Capital Inc (NYSE:SRC).

What does the smart money think about Spirit Realty Capital Inc (NYSE:SRC)?

At Q2’s end, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -21% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Dinakar Singh’s TPG-AXON Management LP had the largest position in Spirit Realty Capital Inc (NYSE:SRC), worth close to $116.4 million, comprising 8.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Anthony Bozza of Lakewood Capital Management, with a $42.8 million position; the fund has 2.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and J. Alan Reid, Jr.’s Forward Management.

As Spirit Realty Capital Inc (NYSE:SRC) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few funds that elected to cut their entire stakes heading into Q2. Interestingly, Thomas Lenox Kempner’s Davidson Kempner sold off the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, valued at an estimated $80.2 million in stock, and Steven Tananbaum of GoldenTree Asset Management was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $68.8 million worth. These moves are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds heading into Q2.

How are insiders trading Spirit Realty Capital Inc (NYSE:SRC)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Spirit Realty Capital Inc (NYSE:SRC) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Spirit Realty Capital Inc (NYSE:SRC). These stocks are Capstead Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:CMO), PS Business Parks Inc (NYSE:PSB), Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT), Colony Financial Inc (NYSE:CLNY), and American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (NASDAQ:MTGE). This group of stocks are in the reit – diversified industry and their market caps are closest to SRC’s market cap.