Hedge Funds Are Betting On American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (MTGE)

Is American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (NASDAQ:MTGE) an attractive investment today? The best stock pickers are betting on the stock. The number of long hedge fund positions advanced by 5 recently.

To the average investor, there are dozens of methods investors can use to watch their holdings. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a significant margin (see just how much).

American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (NASDAQ:MTGE)Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the financial markets. Obviously, there are a variety of motivations for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action surrounding American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (NASDAQ:MTGE).

Hedge fund activity in American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (NASDAQ:MTGE)

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 38% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.

According to our comprehensive database, Ascend Capital, managed by Malcolm Fairbairn, holds the largest position in American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (NASDAQ:MTGE). Ascend Capital has a $42.3 million position in the stock, comprising 1.4% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Brian Taylor of Pine River Capital Management, with a $27.8 million position; the fund has 0.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Brian Jackelow’s SAB Capital Management and James Melcher’s Balestra.

Consequently, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Ascend Capital, managed by Malcolm Fairbairn, initiated the most valuable position in American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (NASDAQ:MTGE). Ascend Capital had 42.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also made a $20 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new MTGE investors: D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group, and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

How have insiders been trading American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (NASDAQ:MTGE)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (NASDAQ:MTGE) has experienced 3 unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (NASDAQ:MTGE). These stocks are PS Business Parks Inc (NYSE:PSB), Capstead Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:CMO), Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT), Colony Financial Inc (NYSE:CLNY), and Spirit Realty Capital Inc (NYSE:SRC). All of these stocks are in the reit – diversified industry and their market caps are similar to MTGE’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
PS Business Parks Inc (NYSE:PSB) 8 0 6
Capstead Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:CMO) 11 0 2
Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) 12 0 0
Colony Financial Inc (NYSE:CLNY) 17 0 6
Spirit Realty Capital Inc (NYSE:SRC) 19 0 0

With the results exhibited by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (NASDAQ:MTGE) is no exception.

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