In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of gauges market participants can use to track stocks. A duo of the most underrated 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 elite money managers can beat the market by a superb amount (see just how much).
Just as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the stock market universe. Obviously, there are lots of reasons for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to study the recent info for National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN).
What does the smart money think about National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN)?
Heading into Q3, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 60% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.
Out of the hedge funds we follow, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had the biggest position in National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN), worth close to $40.8 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by AEW Capital Management, managed by Jeffrey Furber, which held a $32.9 million position; the fund has 0.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments and David Harding’s Winton Capital Management.
Consequently, particular hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, established the most outsized position in National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN). Fisher Asset Management had 40.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management also made a $33.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new NNN investors: Jeffrey Furber’s AEW Capital Management, Daniel Gold’s QVT Financial, and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.
Insider trading activity in National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN)
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN). These stocks are MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA), Retail Properties of America Inc (NYSE:RPAI), Douglas Emmett, Inc. (NYSE:DEI), Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD), and W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC). This group of stocks are the members of the reit – diversified industry and their market caps match NNN’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Retail Properties of America Inc (NYSE:RPAI) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Douglas Emmett, Inc. (NYSE:DEI) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns explained by our analyses, average investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN) applies perfectly to this mantra.
