CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT) investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of metrics investors can use to analyze their holdings. A couple of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can beat their index-focused peers by a superb margin (see just how much).
Just as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are many reasons for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if investors know what to do (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a glance at the key action surrounding CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT).
What have hedge funds been doing with CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT)?
At year’s end, a total of 40 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 11% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Centerbridge Partners, managed by Mark T. Gallogly, holds the largest position in CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT). Centerbridge Partners has a $342 million billion position in the stock, comprising 26.7% of its 13F portfolio. On Centerbridge Partners’s heels is Oaktree Capital Management, managed by Howard Marks, which held a $146 million position; 0.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Frank Brosens’s Taconic Capital, Bruce Berkowitz’s Fairholme (FAIRX) and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
As aggregate interest increased, some big names have jumped into CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT) headfirst. Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, initiated the most outsized position in CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT). Arrowstreet Capital had 118 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Doug Silverman’s Senator Investment Group also made a $52 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new CIT investors: Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, Joshua Friedman and Mitchell Julis’s Canyon Capital Advisors, and Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital.
What have insiders been doing with CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT)?
Insider buying is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results shown by our tactics, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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