This Metric Says You Are Smart to Buy Colonial Properties Trust Inc (CLP)

Colonial Properties Trust Inc (NYSE:CLP) was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. CLP investors should pay attention to an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. There were 6 hedge funds in our database with CLP positions at the end of the previous quarter.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many gauges shareholders can use to monitor their holdings. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can beat their index-focused peers by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Ken Fisher - FISHER ASSET MANAGEMENT

Equally as important, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are plenty of reasons for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a look at the key action encompassing Colonial Properties Trust Inc (NYSE:CLP).

Hedge fund activity in Colonial Properties Trust Inc (NYSE:CLP)

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 33% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.

Of the funds we track, John Khoury’s Long Pond Capital had the most valuable position in Colonial Properties Trust Inc (NYSE:CLP), worth close to $55.7 million, comprising 9.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management, with a $48.7 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Long Pond Capital, managed by John Khoury, created the biggest position in Colonial Properties Trust Inc (NYSE:CLP). Long Pond Capital had 55.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital also made a $5.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new CLP positions are David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, Peter Rathjens Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

How have insiders been trading Colonial Properties Trust Inc (NYSE:CLP)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time frame, Colonial Properties Trust Inc (NYSE:CLP) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Colonial Properties Trust Inc (NYSE:CLP). These stocks are PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT), Post Properties Inc (NYSE:PPS), ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR), Sun Communities Inc (NYSE:SUI), and CYS Investments Inc (NYSE:CYS). This group of stocks are in the reit – residential industry and their market caps are similar to CLP’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT) 16 1 9
Post Properties Inc (NYSE:PPS) 13 0 5
ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) 11 3 0
Sun Communities Inc (NYSE:SUI) 7 0 1
CYS Investments Inc (NYSE:CYS) 13 2 1

With the returns shown by the aforementioned research, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Colonial Properties Trust Inc (NYSE:CLP) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds