If you’d ask most shareholders, hedge funds are assumed to be slow, old financial vehicles of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation at the moment, we at Insider Monkey look at the moguls of this club, about 450 funds. It is estimated that this group has its hands on the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by keeping an eye on their highest performing picks, we have identified a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year 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 beaten the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see all of our picks from August).
Just as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the world of equities. Obviously, there are many incentives for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a glance at the key action surrounding Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY).
How are hedge funds trading Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY)?
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly.
Of the funds we track, Taconic Capital, managed by Frank Brosens, holds the largest position in Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY). Taconic Capital has a $11.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Third Avenue Management, managed by Martin Whitman, which held a $5.5 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
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How are insiders trading Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY). These stocks are Columbia Banking System Inc (NASDAQ:COLB), Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC), Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR), Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKL), and Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB). This group of stocks are the members of the savings & loans industry and their market caps are similar to KRNY’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Columbia Banking System Inc (NASDAQ:COLB) | 9 | 0 | 2 |
| Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC) | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKL) | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) | 6 | 1 | 1 |
With the returns shown by our research, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY) is an important part of this process.
