Hedge Funds Are Selling Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE:SRZ)

Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE:SRZ) was in 15 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. SRZ has experienced a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately. There were 20 hedge funds in our database with SRZ holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

AQR CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

To most shareholders, hedge funds are assumed to be slow, old investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation today, we choose to focus on the moguls of this group, around 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group has its hands on the majority of the smart money’s total asset base, and by tracking their top picks, we have unsheathed a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have topped the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (explore the details and some picks here).

Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are a variety of motivations for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if investors know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a gander at the recent action regarding Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE:SRZ).

What have hedge funds been doing with Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE:SRZ)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -25% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.

Of the funds we track, AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, holds the biggest position in Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE:SRZ). AQR Capital Management has a $46 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Clint Carlson of Carlson Capital, with a $39 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Robert Emil Zoellner’s Alpine Associates, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors and Paul Glazer’s Glazer Capital.

Due to the fact that Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE:SRZ) has witnessed a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of hedge funds that slashed their entire stakes last quarter. Interestingly, Tom Sandell’s Sandell Asset Management dumped the largest position of all the hedgies we key on, worth about $20 million in stock., and J. Alan Reid, Jr. of Forward Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $15 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 5 funds last quarter.

How have insiders been trading Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE:SRZ)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE:SRZ) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 10 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results exhibited by our time-tested strategies, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE:SRZ) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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