Here is What Hedge Funds Think About EPR Properties (EPR)

We can judge whether EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) is a good investment right now by following the lead of some of the best investors in the world and piggybacking their ideas. There’s no better way to get these firms’ immense resources and analytical capabilities working for us than to follow their lead into their best ideas. While not all of these picks will be winners, research shows that these picks historically outperformed the market when we factor in known risk factors.

EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) shareholders have witnessed an increase in enthusiasm from smart money of late. EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) was in 18 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 15 hedge funds in our database with EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article, we will also compare EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) to other stocks, including YY Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:YY), Radius Health Inc (NASDAQ:RDUS), and DCT Industrial Trust Inc. (NYSE:DCT) to get a better sense of its popularity.

Today, there are tons of formulas stock traders put to use to evaluate stocks. A pair of the most innovative formulas are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can outpace the broader indices by a superb margin (see the details here).

Now, let’s take a glance at the new action regarding EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR).

How are hedge funds trading EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR)?

Heading into Q4, a total of 18 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, an increase of 20% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Osterweis Capital Management, managed by John Osterweis, holds the number one position in EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR). Osterweis Capital Management has a $61.5 million position in the stock, comprising 2.8% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Forward Management, managed by J. Alan Reid, Jr., which holds a $19.7 million position; the fund has 1.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other members of the smart money that are bullish encompass Amy Minella’s Cardinal Capital, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and Greg Poole’s Echo Street Capital Management.

As aggregate interest increased, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Echo Street Capital Management, managed by Greg Poole, assembled the largest position in EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR). Echo Street Capital Management had $13.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Rod Hinze’s KeyPoint Capital Management also initiated a $2.7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors, Mike Vranos’s Ellington, and George Hall’s Clinton Group.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR). These stocks are YY Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:YY), Radius Health Inc (NASDAQ:RDUS), DCT Industrial Trust Inc. (NYSE:DCT), and Ubiquiti Networks Inc (NASDAQ:UBNT). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 15 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $248 million. That figure was $184 million in EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR)’s case. Radius Health Inc (NASDAQ:RDUS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, DCT Industrial Trust Inc. (NYSE:DCT) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal, but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard, Radius Health Inc (NASDAQ:RDUS) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.