What Hedge Funds Think About Duke Realty Corp (DRE)

If you were to ask many of your fellow readers, hedge funds are viewed as overrated, outdated financial vehicles of a forgotten age. Although there are over 8,000 hedge funds with their doors open currently, this site focuses on the leaders of this club, close to 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group oversees the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total assets, and by keeping an eye on their highest performing equity investments, we’ve revealed a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outperformed the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (see all of our picks from August).

Equally as useful, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to look at the stock market universe. Obviously, there are a variety of stimuli for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).

Thus, let’s analyze the latest info surrounding Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE).

What does the smart money think about Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE)?

At Q2’s end, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 22% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.

Out of the hedge funds we follow, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the largest position in Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE). Renaissance Technologies has a $9 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Dreman Value Management, managed by David Dreman, which held a $2.8 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.

As industrywide interest increased, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, initiated the most outsized position in Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE). Renaissance Technologies had 9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management also made a $2.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.

Insider trading activity in Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE)

Insider buying made by high-level executives is most useful when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE). These stocks are Sovran Self Storage Inc (NYSE:SSS), DCT Industrial Trust Inc. (NYSE:DCT), CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE), Biomed Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:BMR), and Extra Space Storage, Inc. (NYSE:EXR). All of these stocks are in the reit – industrial industry and their market caps are closest to DRE’s market cap.

Using the returns shown by the previously mentioned research, average investors must always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE) is no exception.

Discover how hedge fund piggybacking can benefit you

Recommended Reading:

Duke Realty Corp (DRE), Health Care REIT, Inc. (HCN): Reap Dividends and Profits in Real Estate, the Easy Way

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