If you were to ask many of your fellow readers, hedge funds are perceived as bloated, outdated financial vehicles of an era lost to time. Although there are more than 8,000 hedge funds trading in present day, Insider Monkey focuses on the leaders of this group, about 525 funds. It is assumed that this group oversees the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total assets, and by tracking their highest quality picks, we’ve formulated a few investment strategies that have historically beaten the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum 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 outclassed the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (explore the details and some picks here).
Just as crucial, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to look at the investments you’re interested in. There are plenty of incentives for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if you understand where to look (learn more here).
Furthermore, it’s important to examine the latest info about EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR).
How are hedge funds trading EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR)?
At the end of the second quarter, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 23% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.
According to our 13F database, Jeffrey Furber’s AEW Capital Management had the most valuable position in EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR), worth close to $68 million, comprising 1.8% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is J. Alan Reid, Jr. of Forward Management, with a $20.7 million position; 1.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Howard Marks’s Oaktree Capital Management, Amy Minella’s Cardinal Capital and Greg Poole’s Echo Street Capital Management.
As industrywide interest increased, certain money managers were breaking ground themselves. AEW Capital Management, managed by Jeffrey Furber, created the most outsized position in EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR). AEW Capital Management had 68 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. J. Alan Reid, Jr.’s Forward Management also made a $20.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new EPR positions are Howard Marks’s Oaktree Capital Management, Amy Minella’s Cardinal Capital, and Greg Poole’s Echo Street Capital Management.
How have insiders been trading EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR)?
Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR). These stocks are Alexander’s, Inc. (NYSE:ALX), Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE:SKT), Northstar Realty Finance Corp. (NYSE:NRF), Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE:WRE), and Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY). All of these stocks are in the reit – retail industry and their market caps match EPR’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Alexander’s, Inc. (NYSE:ALX) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE:SKT) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Northstar Realty Finance Corp. (NYSE:NRF) | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE:WRE) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s analyses, average investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
