Is Triple-S Management Corp.(NYSE:GTS) undervalued? Investors who are in the know are betting on the stock. The number of long hedge fund positions improved by 2 recently.
To most stock holders, hedge funds are seen as unimportant, outdated financial vehicles of the past. While there are over 8000 funds with their doors open today, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the aristocrats of this club, about 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group has its hands on most of the smart money’s total capital, and by keeping an eye on their top investments, we have uncovered a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have trumped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see all of our picks from August).
Equally as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are a number of incentives for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if investors understand what to do (learn more here).
Now, it’s important to take a glance at the key action regarding Triple-S Management Corp.(NYSE:GTS).
Hedge fund activity in Triple-S Management Corp.(NYSE:GTS)
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 29% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.
According to our comprehensive database, Thomas Ellis and Todd Hammer’s North Run Capital had the largest position in Triple-S Management Corp.(NYSE:GTS), worth close to $23.3 million, accounting for 2.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Lakewood Capital Management, managed by Anthony Bozza, which held a $11.2 million position; 0.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Gabe Hoffman’s Accipiter Capital Management, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
As aggregate interest increased, key hedge funds have jumped into Triple-S Management Corp.(NYSE:GTS) headfirst. Accipiter Capital Management, managed by Gabe Hoffman, created the largest position in Triple-S Management Corp.(NYSE:GTS). Accipiter Capital Management had 10.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $0.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new GTS position is Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
How are insiders trading Triple-S Management Corp.(NYSE:GTS)?
Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, Triple-S Management Corp.(NYSE:GTS) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Triple-S Management Corp.(NYSE:GTS). These stocks are Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ), CNO Financial Group Inc (NYSE:CNO), StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:SFG), Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:EIHI), and PICO Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PICO). All of these stocks are in the accident & health insurance industry and their market caps resemble GTS’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) | 16 | 0 | 4 |
| CNO Financial Group Inc (NYSE:CNO) | 20 | 0 | 9 |
| StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:SFG) | 7 | 0 | 6 |
| Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:EIHI) | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| PICO Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PICO) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
With the results exhibited by Insider Monkey’s studies, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Triple-S Management Corp.(NYSE:GTS) applies perfectly to this mantra.
