Hedge Funds Are Crazy About LHC Group, Inc. (LHCG)

What’s a smart LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG) investor to do?

Now, according to many of your peers, hedge funds are viewed as overrated, outdated investment vehicles of a forgotten age. Although there are In excess of 8,000 hedge funds trading today, this site looks at the top tier of this club, about 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group oversees the lion’s share of the hedge fund industry’s total assets, and by paying attention to their highest performing investments, we’ve unsheathed a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year 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 outperformed the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (find a sample of our picks).

Just as key, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to look at the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of incentives for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if you know where to look (learn more here).

Furthermore, it’s important to analyze the recent info surrounding LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG).

LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG)

Hedge fund activity in LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG)

Heading into Q3, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 29% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Coliseum Capital, managed by Christopher Shackelton and Adam Gray, holds the largest position in LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG). Coliseum Capital has a $50.2 million position in the stock, comprising 26.8% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $4.2 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.

As one would understandably expect, certain bigger names have jumped into LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG) headfirst. Coliseum Capital, managed by Christopher Shackelton and Adam Gray, initiated the most outsized position in LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG). Coliseum Capital had 50.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management also made a $4.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new LHCG positions are Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG)?

Insider buying made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG) has experienced 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 LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG). These stocks are Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE), Addus Homecare Corporation (NASDAQ:ADUS), Almost Family, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFAM), Gentiva Health Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:GTIV), and Amedisys Inc (NASDAQ:AMED). This group of stocks belong to the home health care industry and their market caps match LHCG’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE) 13 0 0
Addus Homecare Corporation (NASDAQ:ADUS) 4 0 0
Almost Family, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFAM) 9 0 0
Gentiva Health Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:GTIV) 16 0 0
Amedisys Inc (NASDAQ:AMED) 9 0 0

Using the results explained by the previously mentioned strategies, average investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG) is an important part of this process.

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LHC Group, Inc. (LHCG): Insiders Are Buying, Should You?

Insider Trading Activity

Hedge Fund Activity