Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN) was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. HMN investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund interest of late. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with HMN positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In the financial world, there are plenty of methods shareholders can use to track stocks. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are plenty of motivations for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the recent action encompassing Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN).
What does the smart money think about Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN)?
Heading into Q2, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 11% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.
According to our comprehensive database, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management had the most valuable position in Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN), worth close to $23.1 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is John W. Rogers of Ariel Investments, with a $9.1 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Consequently, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, initiated the largest position in Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN). Renaissance Technologies had 0.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management also made a $0.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
How have insiders been trading Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time period, Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 3 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 Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN). These stocks are Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG), Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT), Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLRE), Maiden Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MHLD), and The Navigators Group, Inc (NASDAQ:NAVG). This group of stocks are the members of the property & casualty insurance industry and their market caps are closest to HMN’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG) | 10 | 0 | 2 |
| Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) | 9 | 0 | 2 |
| Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLRE) | 13 | 0 | 5 |
| Maiden Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MHLD) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| The Navigators Group, Inc (NASDAQ:NAVG) | 8 | 0 | 1 |
With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned tactics, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
