Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. (ALC)

Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. (NYSE:ALC) investors should be aware of an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of metrics investors can use to monitor stocks. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of reasons for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a gander at the key action regarding Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. (NYSE:ALC).

How are hedge funds trading Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. (NYSE:ALC)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 43% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Bandera Partners, managed by Gregory Bylinsky and Jefferson Gramm, holds the largest position in Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. (NYSE:ALC). Bandera Partners has a $26.4 million position in the stock, comprising 11.5% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Michael Blitzer of Kingstown Capital Management, with a $19 million position; 3.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Paul Glazer’s Glazer Capital and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

Now, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Glazer Capital, managed by Paul Glazer, established the biggest position in Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. (NYSE:ALC). Glazer Capital had 3.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also initiated a $1.7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new ALC positions are Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors and Paul Touradji’s TOURADJI CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LP.

What have insiders been doing with Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. (NYSE:ALC)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. (NYSE:ALC) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. (NYSE:ALC). These stocks are The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG), National HealthCare Corporation (NYSEAMEX:NHC), Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:KND), Five Star Quality Care, Inc. (NYSE:FVE), and Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. (NYSE:SKH). This group of stocks are the members of the long-term care facilities industry and their market caps match ALC’s market cap.

With the results shown by the aforementioned tactics, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. (NYSE:ALC) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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