Here is What Hedge Funds Think About CommonWealth REIT (CWH)

CommonWealth REIT (NYSE:CWH) was in 41 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. CWH has seen an increase in enthusiasm from smart money of late. There were 13 hedge funds in our database with CWH holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

To the average investor, there are plenty of methods market participants can use to analyze stocks. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can trounce the broader indices by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the world of equities. There are many stimuli for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if investors know what to do (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a look at the key action surrounding CommonWealth REIT (NYSE:CWH).

Hedge fund activity in CommonWealth REIT (NYSE:CWH)

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 41 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 215% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.

Of the funds we track, Richard Perry’s Perry Capital had the largest position in CommonWealth REIT (NYSE:CWH), worth close to $145.9 million, comprising 4.6% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Luxor Capital Group, managed by Christian Leone, which held a $125.1 million position; 2.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Keith Meister’s Corvex Capital, and Jeffrey Altman’s Owl Creek Asset Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Perry Capital, managed by Richard Perry, created the largest position in CommonWealth REIT (NYSE:CWH). Perry Capital had 145.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Keith Meister’s Corvex Capital also initiated a $121.7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Jeffrey Tannenbaum’s Fir Tree, Jeffrey Altman’s Owl Creek Asset Management, and Jonathon Jacobson’s Highfields Capital Management.

Insider trading activity in CommonWealth REIT (NYSE:CWH)

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, CommonWealth REIT (NYSE:CWH) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to CommonWealth REIT (NYSE:CWH). These stocks are Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM), Highwoods Properties Inc (NYSE:HIW), Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE:OFC), Mack Cali Realty Corp (NYSE:CLI), and Brookfield Canada Office Properties (NYSE:BOXC). This group of stocks belong to the reit – office industry and their market caps are similar to CWH’s market cap.