Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC): Hedge Funds and Insiders Are Bullish, What Should You Do? – Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKL), Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY)

Is Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC) worth your attention right now? Prominent investors are getting more bullish. The number of long hedge fund bets improved by 6 in recent months.

Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC)

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many gauges investors can use to analyze the equity markets. A couple of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can beat their index-focused peers by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the financial markets. There are plenty of motivations for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, let’s take a peek at the recent action encompassing Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC).

How are hedge funds trading Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 75% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies had the most valuable position in Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC), worth close to $6 million, comprising 1.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Raptor Capital Management, managed by James Pallotta, which held a $5 million position; the fund has 3.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Timothy S. Peterson’s Regiment Capital, Geoffrey Raynor’s Q Investments (Specter Holdings) and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds have jumped into Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC) headfirst. Harvest Capital Strategies, managed by Joseph A. Jolson, created the biggest position in Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC). Harvest Capital Strategies had 6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. James Pallotta’s Raptor Capital Management also made a $5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new FBC positions are Timothy S. Peterson’s Regiment Capital, Geoffrey Raynor’s Q Investments (Specter Holdings), and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

What have insiders been doing with Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, 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 Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC). These stocks are Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKL), Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB), Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS), Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY), and Columbia Banking System Inc (NASDAQ:COLB). All of these stocks are in the savings & loans industry and their market caps are closest to FBC’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKL) 10 0 0
Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) 6 1 2
Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) 6 3 1
Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY) 5 1 3
Columbia Banking System Inc (NASDAQ:COLB) 7 2 1

With the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s strategies, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Flagstar Bancorp Inc (NYSE:FBC) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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Insider Monkey’s small-cap strategy returned 37% between September 2012 and March 2013 versus 12.9% for the S&P 500 index. Try it now by clicking the link above.