Hedge Funds Are Selling THL Credit, Inc. (TCRD): Capital Southwest Corporation (CSWC), Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (WHG)

THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in hedge fund interest of late.

To the average investor, there are plenty of indicators market participants can use to monitor the equity markets. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a superb amount (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the marketplace. There are a number of motivations for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a peek at the recent action regarding THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD).

How have hedgies been trading THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD)?

At year’s end, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors had the most valuable position in THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD), worth close to $18 million, accounting for 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. On Omega Advisors’s heels is Charles Clough of Clough Capital Partners, with a $5 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include Bruce Silver’s Silver Capital Management LLC, Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

Because THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD) has witnessed bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few funds who were dropping their positions entirely heading into 2013. It’s worth mentioning that John Fichthorn’s Dialectic Capital Management dumped the biggest stake of the 450+ funds we watch, worth close to $1 million in stock. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

What do corporate executives and insiders think about THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD)?

Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD) has experienced 5 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to THL Credit, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCRD). These stocks are Capital Southwest Corporation (NASDAQ:CSWC), Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (NYSE:WHG), Pzena Investment Management, Inc. (NYSE:PZN), PennantPark Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:PNNT), and Noah Holdings Limited (ADR) (NYSE:NOAH). This group of stocks are in the asset management industry and their market caps resemble TCRD’s market cap.