In the financial world, there are tons of methods shareholders can use to watch stocks. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a superb amount (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of motivations for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a peek at the recent action surrounding Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC).
How have hedgies been trading Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC)?
At year’s end, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 14% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Martin Whitman’s Third Avenue Management had the most valuable position in Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC), worth close to $74.3 million, comprising 1.6% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Michael Price of MFP Investors, with a $14.7 million position; the fund has 2.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
As aggregate interest increased, key money managers have been driving this bullishness. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, assembled the biggest position in Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC). Renaissance Technologies had 0.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also initiated a $0.3 million position during the quarter.
How have insiders been trading Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC). These stocks are Rouse Properties Inc (NYSE:RSE), Homex Development Corp. (ADR) (NYSE:HXM), Campus Crest Communities Inc (NYSE:CCG), and E-House (China) Holdings Limited (ADR) (NYSE:EJ). All of these stocks are in the property management industry and their market caps match TRC’s market cap.
