Hedge Funds Are Dumping Inland Real Estate Corporation (IRC)

Inland Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:IRC)Is Inland Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:IRC) an attractive investment now? Hedge funds are turning less bullish. The number of long hedge fund positions dropped by 1 in recent months.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of gauges market participants can use to monitor their holdings. Two of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can beat the S&P 500 by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are lots of stimuli for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if you know where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a look at the key action surrounding Inland Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:IRC).

What does the smart money think about Inland Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:IRC)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -17% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly.

Of the funds we track, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management had the biggest position in Inland Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:IRC), worth close to $11.3 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On AQR Capital Management’s heels is D. E. Shaw of D E Shaw, with a $1 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

Seeing as Inland Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:IRC) has witnessed falling interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers that elected to cut their entire stakes heading into 2013. At the top of the heap, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies dropped the biggest position of the 450+ funds we track, worth about $1.1 million in stock. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds heading into 2013.

How have insiders been trading Inland Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:IRC)?

Insider buying is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, Inland Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:IRC) has seen 9 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 Inland Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:IRC). These stocks are Hersha Hospitality Trust (NYSE:HT), Pennsylvania R.E.I.T. (NYSE:PEI), Retail Opportunity Investments Corp (NASDAQ:ROIC), Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT), and Saul Centers Inc (NYSE:BFS). This group of stocks belong to the reit – retail industry and their market caps match IRC’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Hersha Hospitality Trust (NYSE:HT) 5 1 6
Pennsylvania R.E.I.T. (NYSE:PEI) 9 0 4
Retail Opportunity Investments Corp (NASDAQ:ROIC) 13 0 0
Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT) 9 0 0
Saul Centers Inc (NYSE:BFS) 5 1 6

With the results exhibited by Insider Monkey’s research, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Inland Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:IRC) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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