Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) investors should be aware of an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many metrics investors can use to monitor Mr. Market. A pair of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as key, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break 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 just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a glance at the recent action encompassing Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG).
Hedge fund activity in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG)
In preparation for this year, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 75% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.
According to our comprehensive database, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital had the most valuable position in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG), worth close to $12.7 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Vertex One Asset Management, managed by John Thiessen, which held a $9.6 million position; 1.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.
As aggregate interest increased, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Vertex One Asset Management, managed by John Thiessen, created the largest position in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG). Vertex One Asset Management had 9.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors also made a $0.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
How have insiders been trading Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG). These stocks are Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR) (NYSE:CS), Banco Santander, S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:SAN), Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:RBS), UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS), and Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS). This group of stocks are the members of the foreign money center banks industry and their market caps match LYG’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR) (NYSE:CS) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Banco Santander, S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:SAN) | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:RBS) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
With the results exhibited by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) is an important part of this process.
