Monmouth R.E. Inv. Corp. (MNR): Insiders Are Buying, Should You?

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Monmouth R.E. Inv. Corp. (NYSE:MNR) was in 6 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. MNR has seen an increase in hedge fund interest recently. There were 5 hedge funds in our database with MNR positions at the end of the previous quarter.

Monmouth R.E. Inv. Corp. (NYSE:MNR)

According to most stock holders, hedge funds are assumed to be worthless, old financial tools of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation at present, we hone in on the upper echelon of this club, around 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 monitoring their highest performing stock picks, we have formulated a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the broader indices. 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 beaten the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see all of our picks from August).

Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of reasons for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a look at the recent action regarding Monmouth R.E. Inv. Corp. (NYSE:MNR).

What have hedge funds been doing with Monmouth R.E. Inv. Corp. (NYSE:MNR)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 20% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the most valuable position in Monmouth R.E. Inv. Corp. (NYSE:MNR). Renaissance Technologies has a $3.5 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. On Renaissance Technologies’s heels is D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, which held a $1 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies with similar optimism include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds have jumped into Monmouth R.E. Inv. Corp. (NYSE:MNR) headfirst. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, established the largest position in Monmouth R.E. Inv. Corp. (NYSE:MNR). Citadel Investment Group had 0.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.

What have insiders been doing with Monmouth R.E. Inv. Corp. (NYSE:MNR)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Monmouth R.E. Inv. Corp. (NYSE:MNR) has seen 3 unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Monmouth R.E. Inv. Corp. (NYSE:MNR). These stocks are Potlatch Corporation (NASDAQ:PCH), First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR), Eastgroup Properties Inc (NYSE:EGP), Stag Industrial Inc (NYSE:STAG), and Terreno Realty Corporation (NYSE:TRNO). This group of stocks are in the reit – industrial industry and their market caps resemble MNR’s market cap.

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