Hedge Funds Are Crazy About Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:ALTE)

Is Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:ALTE) the right investment to pursue these days? Hedge funds are turning bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund positions went up by 7 lately.

Alterra Captial

To the average investor, there are a multitude of methods investors can use to analyze publicly traded companies. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can trounce the market by a superb amount (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the stock market universe. There are a variety of reasons for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if you understand where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a look at the key action surrounding Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:ALTE).

What does the smart money think about Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:ALTE)?

At year’s end, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 78% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Robert Emil Zoellner’s Alpine Associates had the largest position in Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:ALTE), worth close to $42 million, comprising 1.7% of its total 13F portfolio. On Alpine Associates’s heels is Clint Carlson of Carlson Capital, with a $40 million position; 1.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Matthew Halbower’s Pentwater Capital Management, Frank Brosens’s Taconic Capital and Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital.

As one would reasonably expect, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Alpine Associates, managed by Robert Emil Zoellner, created the most valuable position in Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:ALTE). Alpine Associates had 42 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital also initiated a $40 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new ALTE positions are Matthew Halbower’s Pentwater Capital Management, Frank Brosens’s Taconic Capital, and Stephen J. Errico’s Locust Wood Capital Advisers.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:ALTE)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:ALTE) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results demonstrated by our research, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:ALTE) is no exception.

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