Here is What Hedge Funds Think About National Bank Holdings Corp (NYSE:NBHC)

National Bank Holdings Corp (NYSE:NBHC) has experienced an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late.

According to most shareholders, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, outdated investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds trading at the moment, we hone in on the elite of this group, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group has its hands on the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by watching their best stock picks, we have unearthed a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outperformed the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (see all of our picks from August).

Equally as important, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the financial markets. There are plenty of motivations for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a look at the recent action surrounding National Bank Holdings Corp (NYSE:NBHC).

What have hedge funds been doing with National Bank Holdings Corp (NYSE:NBHC)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 375% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, Paul Singer’s Elliott Management had the biggest position in National Bank Holdings Corp (NYSE:NBHC), worth close to $70 million, accounting for 2.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is John Paulson of Paulson & Co, with a $41 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Frank Brosens’s Taconic Capital, Thomas Steyer’s Farallon Capital and Ricky Sandler’s Eminence Capital.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about National Bank Holdings Corp (NYSE:NBHC)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, National Bank Holdings Corp (NYSE:NBHC) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results shown by the aforementioned strategies, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and National Bank Holdings Corp (NYSE:NBHC) is an important part of this process.

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