Is American National Insurance Company (ANAT) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT) was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. ANAT has seen a decrease in hedge fund sentiment lately. There were 10 hedge funds in our database with ANAT holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

At the moment, there are many indicators market participants can use to analyze the equity markets. Two 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 top picks of the elite investment managers can outclass the market by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as key, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the marketplace. Obviously, there are a number of stimuli for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if you know where to look (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a peek at the recent action regarding American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT).

Hedge fund activity in American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT)

At Q1’s end, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -20% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the largest position in American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT). Royce & Associates has a $12.6 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $1.1 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors.

Seeing as American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT) has experienced bearish sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there exists a select few money managers that slashed their positions entirely in Q1. At the top of the heap, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management said goodbye to the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, valued at about $0.5 million in stock., and Glenn Russell Dubin of Highbridge Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $0.3 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds in Q1.

What have insiders been doing with American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT) has seen 1 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 American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT). These stocks are Enstar Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESGR), Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY), Corelogic Inc (NYSE:CLGX), The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG), and Amtrust Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFSI). This group of stocks are the members of the property & casualty insurance industry and their market caps are closest to ANAT’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by our research, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and American National Insurance Company (NASDAQ:ANAT) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds