This Metric Says You Are Smart to Buy Partnerre Ltd (PRE)

Is Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE) a good investment?

Now, according to many investors, hedge funds are perceived as useless, outdated investment tools of an era lost to time. Although there are over 8,000 hedge funds with their doors open currently, Insider Monkey aim at the moguls of this group, around 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group oversees the majority of the smart money’s total assets, and by monitoring their highest performing picks, we’ve revealed a number of investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced 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 topped the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (find a sample of our picks).

Equally as necessary, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to look at the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of motivations for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if you know what to do (learn more here).

Furthermore, it’s important to discuss the newest info for Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE).

Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE)

How are hedge funds trading Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE)?

In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 6% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management had the most valuable position in Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE), worth close to $123.1 million, comprising 0.8% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Clint Carlson of Carlson Capital, with a $58.1 million position; 0.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers that are bullish include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Michael Messner’s Seminole Capital (Investment Mgmt) and Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital.

Consequently, certain money managers have jumped into Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE) headfirst. Pzena Investment Management, managed by Richard S. Pzena, established the most valuable position in Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE). Pzena Investment Management had 123.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital also made a $58.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new PRE investors: Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Michael Messner’s Seminole Capital (Investment Mgmt), and Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time frame, Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE). These stocks are HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HCC), Alleghany Corporation (NYSE:Y), Markel Corporation (NYSE:MKL), W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB), and Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS). All of these stocks are in the property & casualty insurance industry and their market caps are similar to PRE’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) 17 0 0
Alleghany Corporation (NYSE:Y) 23 0 0
Markel Corporation (NYSE:MKL) 22 0 0
W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) 24 0 0
Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) 18 0 0

Using the results shown by the previously mentioned studies, regular investors must always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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