Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) was in 9 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. LYG investors should pay attention to a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with LYG positions at the end of the previous quarter.
Just as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the financial markets. There are a number of reasons for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a glance at the latest action encompassing Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG).
How are hedge funds trading Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG)?
Heading into Q2, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.
According to our comprehensive database, John Thiessen’s Vertex One Asset Management had the most valuable position in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG), worth close to $17 million, accounting for 2.3% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, which held a $11.8 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.
Judging by the fact that Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) has experienced a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few money managers that elected to cut their positions entirely in Q1. Intriguingly, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management said goodbye to the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we track, comprising close to $0 million in stock. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
How are insiders trading Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG). These stocks are Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR) (NYSE:CS), Banco Santander, S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:SAN), Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:RBS), UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS), and Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS). This group of stocks are the members of the foreign money center banks industry and their market caps are closest to LYG’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR) (NYSE:CS) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Banco Santander, S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:SAN) | 17 | 1 | 0 |
| Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:RBS) | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
With the results exhibited by our tactics, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) is no exception.
