Hedge Funds Are Dumping Cousins Properties Inc (CUZ)

Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ) has experienced a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late.

In the eyes of most traders, hedge funds are seen as slow, old investment tools of years past. While there are over 8000 funds with their doors open today, we at Insider Monkey look at the crème de la crème of this club, close to 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group oversees most of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by keeping an eye on their best picks, we have discovered a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped 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 topped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ)

Just as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of reasons for a bullish insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a look at the recent action encompassing Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ).

What does the smart money think about Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -10% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the most valuable position in Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ). Royce & Associates has a $9.2 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $5.7 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

Judging by the fact that Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ) has experienced a declination in interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that slashed their full holdings last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group said goodbye to the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, valued at about $0.7 million in stock., and Ben Levine, Andrew Manuel and Stefan Renold of LMR Partners was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $0.1 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds last quarter.

What have insiders been doing with Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ). These stocks are Anworth Mortgage Asset Corporation (NYSE:ANH), iStar Financial Inc. (NYSE:SFI), Crexus Investment Corp (NYSE:CXS), Capstead Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:CMO), and Investors Real Estate Trust (NYSE:IRET). This group of stocks belong to the reit – diversified industry and their market caps resemble CUZ’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Anworth Mortgage Asset Corporation (NYSE:ANH) 11 0 2
iStar Financial Inc. (NYSE:SFI) 26 1 2
Crexus Investment Corp (NYSE:CXS) 12 0 0
Capstead Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:CMO) 11 0 2
Investors Real Estate Trust (NYSE:IRET) 6 7 0

With the returns shown by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Cousins Properties Inc (NYSE:CUZ) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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