Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Everest Re Group Ltd (RE)

Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE) was in 17 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. RE has seen a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 20 hedge funds in our database with RE holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In the eyes of most investors, hedge funds are perceived as unimportant, old investment tools of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation today, we look at the crème de la crème of this group, about 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group has its hands on most of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by tracking their highest performing stock picks, we have uncovered a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outperformed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are many stimuli for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action regarding Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE).

Hedge fund activity in Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE)

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -15% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.

According to our comprehensive database, Southeastern Asset Management, managed by Mason Hawkins, holds the most valuable position in Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE). Southeastern Asset Management has a $584.2 million position in the stock, comprising 2.6% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $94.1 million position; 0.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management and Greg Poole’s Echo Street Capital Management.

Because Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE) has witnessed a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there was a specific group of hedgies that decided to sell off their positions entirely last quarter. At the top of the heap, Richard Schimel’s Diamondback Capital dropped the biggest position of all the hedgies we monitor, totaling about $31.3 million in stock., and Ken Gray and Steve Walsh of Bryn Mawr Capital was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $24.1 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds last quarter.

How are insiders trading Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE). These stocks are Alleghany Corporation (NYSE:Y), XL Group plc (NYSE:XL), Cna Financial Corp (NYSE:CNA), Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL), and Cincinnati Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CINF). All of these stocks are in the property & casualty insurance industry and their market caps are closest to RE’s market cap.