Is Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY) undervalued? The smart money is reducing their bets on the stock. The number of bullish hedge fund positions stayed the same which is a slightly negative development in our experience
In today’s marketplace, there are plenty of methods market participants can use to watch the equity markets. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a superb amount (see just how much).
Just as important, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the marketplace. Obviously, there are lots of reasons for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if you know where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the recent action surrounding Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY).
How have hedgies been trading Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY)?
Heading into Q2, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.
According to our comprehensive database, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the largest position in Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY), worth close to $6.2 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. On Citadel Investment Group’s heels is D. E. Shaw of D E Shaw, with a $3.2 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Due to the fact that Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY) has faced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there were a few funds that slashed their positions entirely at the end of the first quarter. Intriguingly, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors said goodbye to the largest investment of the 450+ funds we monitor, valued at close to $0.3 million in stock. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
How have insiders been trading Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY)?
Insider buying is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY). These stocks are Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI), CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (NYSE:CBL), Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE:HPT), Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE:SKT), and EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR). All of these stocks are in the reit – retail industry and their market caps resemble EQY’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI) | 12 | 0 | 3 |
| CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (NYSE:CBL) | 11 | 1 | 4 |
| Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE:HPT) | 9 | 1 | 1 |
| Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE:SKT) | 7 | 1 | 7 |
| EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) | 13 | 1 | 4 |
With the returns exhibited by our strategies, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
