The government requires hedge funds and wealthy investors with over a certain portfolio size to file a report that shows their positions at the end of every quarter. Even though it isn’t the intention, these filings level the playing field for ordinary investors. The latest round of 13F filings discloses the funds’ positions on September 30. We at Insider Monkey have made an extensive database of more than 700 of those elite funds and prominent investors’ filings. In this article, we analyze how these elite funds and prominent investors traded Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE:HIG) based on those filings.
Is Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE:HIG) worth your attention right now? The best stock pickers are in a bullish mood. The number of bullish hedge fund bets advanced by 8 lately. 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 TELUS Corporation (USA) (NYSE:TU), Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS), and Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) to gather more data points.
Follow Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE:HIG)
Follow Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE:HIG)
At the moment there are a lot of methods investors have at their disposal to value stocks. A pair of the most innovative methods are hedge fund and insider trading signals. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a healthy amount (see the details here).
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a gander at the new action regarding Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE:HIG).
What have hedge funds been doing with Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE:HIG)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 51 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 19% from the second quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Steven Richman’s East Side Capital (RR Partners) has the most valuable position in Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE:HIG), worth close to $348.6 million, corresponding to 14.9% of its total 13F portfolio. On East Side Capital (RR Partners)’s heels is Israel Englander of Millennium Management, with a $170.2 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers with similar optimism comprise Bill Miller’s Legg Mason Capital Management, Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
Consequently, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. CQS Cayman LP, managed by Michael Hintze, assembled the most valuable call position in Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE:HIG). CQS Cayman LP had $11.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Porter Collins, Daniel Moses, and Vincent Daniel’s Seawolf Capital also initiated a $9.3 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new HIG investors: Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management, Howard Shainker and Akiva Katz’s Bow Street LLC, and Peter Muller’s PDT Partners.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE:HIG). These stocks are TELUS Corporation (USA) (NYSE:TU), Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS), Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR), and PACCAR Inc (NASDAQ:PCAR). All of these stocks’ market caps are closest to HIG’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| TU | 11 | 154406 | -5 |
| FIS | 34 | 1570699 | 0 |
| VTR | 22 | 465222 | -2 |
| PCAR | 34 | 450787 | 7 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 25.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $660 million. That figure was $1190 million in HIG’s case. Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand TELUS Corporation (USA) (NYSE:TU) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE:HIG) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.
