Hedge Funds Are Crazy About Everest Re Group Ltd (RE)

With the third-quarter round of 13F filings behind us it is time to take a look at the stocks in which some of the best money managers in the world preferred to invest or sell heading into the fourth quarter. One of these stocks was Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE).

Is Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE) ready to rally soon? The best stock pickers are buying. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went up by 3 lately. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity, but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as CDK Global Inc (NASDAQ:CDK), Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI), and E TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) to gather more data points.

To the average investor, there are many tools stock traders put to use to appraise their holdings. A couple of the most underrated tools are hedge fund and insider trading interest. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a solid margin (see the details here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to check out the recent action surrounding Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE).

How are hedge funds trading Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE)?

At Q3’s end, a total of 27 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, up by 13% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Southeastern Asset Management, managed by Mason Hawkins, holds the number one position in Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE). At the end of the quarter, the fund had a $440.5 million position in the stock, comprising 3.7% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which holds a $143.2 million stake; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other professional money managers that are bullish include David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management.