Is Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH) going to take off soon? Hedge funds are taking an optimistic view. The number of long hedge fund positions inched up by 2 in recent months.
In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of gauges market participants can use to analyze their holdings. A duo of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a solid margin (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of stimuli for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a glance at the key action encompassing Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH).
How have hedgies been trading Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 25% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.
Of the funds we track, Adage Capital Management, managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, holds the most valuable position in Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH). Adage Capital Management has a $24.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Dreman Value Management, managed 
Consequently, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Pine River Capital Management, managed by Brian Taylor, created the most outsized position in Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH). Pine River Capital Management had 6.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also initiated a $6.7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new ENH positions are SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors, Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital, and Mike Vranos’s Ellington.
How have insiders been trading Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH)?
Insider buying is most useful when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH). These stocks are Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR), The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG), MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI), Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY), and Enstar Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESGR). This group of stocks are the members of the property & casualty insurance industry and their market caps resemble ENH’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR) | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| Enstar Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESGR) | 6 | 1 | 1 |
With the results shown by our tactics, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH) is no exception.
