This Metric Says You Are Smart to Buy Signature Bank (SBNY)

At the moment, there are dozens of methods investors can use to analyze Mr. Market. Some of the most useful 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 hedge fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Equally as crucial, positive insider trading activity is a second way to look at the investments you’re interested in. There are lots of incentives for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s study the latest info for Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY).

Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY)

What have hedge funds been doing with Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY)?

In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 8% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

Out of the hedge funds we follow, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the most valuable position in Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY). Citadel Investment Group has a $21.8 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $17.1 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital.

Consequently, particular hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, established the most valuable position in Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY). Citadel Investment Group had 21.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management also made a $17.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY)?

Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY). These stocks are National Penn Bancshares (NASDAQ:NPBC), Valley National Bancorp (NYSE:VLY), Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS), Susquehanna Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SUSQ), and Fulton Financial Corp (NASDAQ:FULT). This group of stocks belong to the regional – northeast banks industry and their market caps match SBNY’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
National Penn Bancshares (NASDAQ:NPBC) 8 0 0
Valley National Bancorp (NYSE:VLY) 9 0 0
Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS) 24 0 0
Susquehanna Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:SUSQ) 14 0 0
Fulton Financial Corp (NASDAQ:FULT) 9 0 0

Using the returns demonstrated by the previously mentioned studies, regular investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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