To the average investor, there are tons of metrics market participants can use to monitor the equity markets. Two of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Equally as useful, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to look at the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are many motivations for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).
Now that that’s out of the way, we’re going to discuss the recent info surrounding Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT).
What does the smart money think about Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT)?
At Q2’s end, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -27% from the previous quarter.
Due to the fact Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT) has witnessed dropping sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there exists a select few hedge funds who were dropping their full holdings at the end of the second quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies sold off the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, worth about $5.1 million in stock. Richard Driehaus’s fund, Driehaus Capital, also sold off its stock, about $4.9 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 4 funds at the end of the second quarter.
What have insiders been doing with Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT)?
Insider buying made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, 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 Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT). These stocks are Retail Opportunity Investments Corp (NASDAQ:ROIC), Hersha Hospitality Trust (NYSE:HT), Saul Centers Inc (NYSE:BFS), Inland Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:IRC), and Pennsylvania R.E.I.T. (NYSE:PEI). All of these stocks are in the reit – retail industry and their market caps resemble RPT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Retail Opportunity Investments Corp (NASDAQ:ROIC) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Hersha Hospitality Trust (NYSE:HT) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Saul Centers Inc (NYSE:BFS) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Inland Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:IRC) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Pennsylvania R.E.I.T. (NYSE:PEI) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
Using the results shown by our studies, average investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT) is an important part of this process.
