To most investors, hedge funds are seen as worthless, outdated investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the upper echelon of this group, close to 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group oversees most of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by keeping an eye on their top investments, we have revealed a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have topped the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (see the details here).
Equally as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are many motivations for a corporate insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).
Now, it’s important to take a glance at the key action regarding Campus Crest Communities Inc (NYSE:CCG).
How are hedge funds trading Campus Crest Communities Inc (NYSE:CCG)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -20% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.
Of the funds we track, Forward Management, managed by J. Alan Reid, Jr., holds the largest position in Campus Crest Communities Inc (NYSE:CCG). Forward Management has a $4.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. On Forward Management’s heels is Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $3.8 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.
Judging by the fact that Campus Crest Communities Inc (NYSE:CCG) has experienced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of funds that slashed their full holdings in Q4. Intriguingly, Steven Owsley’s Madison Street Partners dumped the biggest stake of the 450+ funds we watch, worth close to $0.5 million in stock., and Mike Vranos of Ellington was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $0.3 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds in Q4.
What have insiders been doing with Campus Crest Communities Inc (NYSE:CCG)?
Bullish insider trading is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, Campus Crest Communities Inc (NYSE:CCG) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, 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 Campus Crest Communities Inc (NYSE:CCG). These stocks are Agree Realty Corporation (NYSE:ADC), Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC), Homex Development Corp. (ADR) (NYSE:HXM), and E-House (China) Holdings Limited (ADR) (NYSE:EJ). This group of stocks are the members of the property management industry and their market caps match CCG’s market cap.
