ISBC - Smart Money Recently Increased Its Stake in This Bank Stock
Two prominent investors bought more shares of Investors Bancorp (NASDAQ: ISBC) in the second quarter, a time when a lot of smart money appeared to be negative on the banking sector. Specifically, bank hedge fund EJF Capital and community bank activist investor Lawrence Seidman both significantly increased their stakes.
According to 13F reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, EJF Capital increased its stake in Investors Bancorp from 30,000 shares as of March 31 to 200,000 shares as of June 30, a 566% increase. Seidman is a longtime bank investor who will frequently buy a large stake in a public bank and join its board. Seidman increased his position in the roughly $27 billion asset bank from 45,000 shares to more than 117,000, representing a 160% increase.
Following the smart money is a popular investment strategy. EJF Capital was recently down about 20% on the year, according to The Wall Street Journal. That is obviously not good, but it could be worse when you consider that most banking indexes have been down more than 30%. And notably, Investors was one of the few banks in which Seidman increased his stake during the second quarter.