Like everyone else, elite investors make mistakes. Some of their top consensus picks, such as Micron and Anadarko Petroleum, have not done well during the last 12 months ending in October due to various reasons. Nevertheless, the data show elite investors’ consensus picks have done well on average. The top 30 S&P 500 stocks among hedge funds at the end of September 2014 yielded an average return of 9.5% during the last four quarters ending in October and sixty three percent of these 30 stocks outperformed the market. S&P 500 Index returned only 5.2% during the same period and less than 49% of its constituents managed to beat this return. Because their consensus picks have done well, we pay attention to what elite funds think before doing extensive research on a stock. In this article, we take a closer look at Hallmark Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALL) from the perspective of those elite funds.
Hedge fund interest in Hallmark Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALL) shares was flat at the end of last quarter. This is usually a negative indicator. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity, but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Wi-LAN Inc – US listing (NASDAQ:WILN), Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBNC), and XenoPort, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNPT) to gather more data points.
Follow Hallmark Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ:HALL)
Follow Hallmark Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ:HALL)
Today there are a lot of methods shareholders put to use to value publicly traded companies. A pair of the most under-the-radar methods are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can beat the broader indices by a very impressive amount (see the details here).
With all of this in mind, let’s analyze the fresh action regarding Hallmark Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALL).
What does the smart money think about Hallmark Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALL)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 4 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, unchanged from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy 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, Cove Street Capital, managed by Jeffrey Bronchick, holds the number one position in Hallmark Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALL). The fund reportedly holds a $17.2 million position in the stock, comprising 2.3% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $1.5 million position; less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other peers that are bullish contain Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital and .
