Is Metro Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:METR) an attractive investment right now? Investors who are in the know are in a bearish mood. The number of long hedge fund positions stayed the same which is a slightly negative development in our experience
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of indicators investors can use to analyze stocks. A duo of the most useful 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 fund managers can trounce the market by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are a variety of incentives for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if investors understand what to do (learn more here).
Consequently, it’s important to take a glance at the key action regarding Metro Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:METR).
How are hedge funds trading Metro Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:METR)?
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.
Of the funds we track, Basswood Capital, managed by Matthew Lindenbaum, holds the most valuable position in Metro Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:METR). Basswood Capital has a $6.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.5% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Joseph A. Jolson of Harvest Capital Strategies, with a $2.4 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Because Metro Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:METR) has experienced falling interest from the smart money, logic holds that there was a specific group of hedge funds who sold off their positions entirely last quarter. Interestingly, Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors dropped the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds we track, totaling about $0.2 million in stock. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
What have insiders been doing with Metro Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:METR)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time frame, Metro Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:METR) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Metro Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:METR). These stocks are Ames National Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLO), Center Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNBC), The First of Long Island Corporation (NASDAQ:FLIC), CNB Financial Corporation Inc (NASDAQ:CCNE), and Camden National Corporation (NASDAQ:CAC). This group of stocks are in the regional – northeast banks industry and their market caps match METR’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Ames National Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLO) | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Center Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNBC) | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| The First of Long Island Corporation (NASDAQ:FLIC) | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| CNB Financial Corporation Inc (NASDAQ:CCNE) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Camden National Corporation (NASDAQ:CAC) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Metro Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:METR) applies perfectly to this mantra.
