Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. (AP): Hedge Funds and Insiders Are Bearish, What Should You Do?

Is Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. (NYSE:AP) undervalued? Hedge funds are getting less bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund bets shrunk by 1 lately.

At the moment, there are plenty of gauges investors can use to analyze stocks. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a significant margin (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are a number of stimuli for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if you know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a gander at the recent action encompassing Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. (NYSE:AP).

What does the smart money think about Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. (NYSE:AP)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -17% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the biggest position in Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. (NYSE:AP), worth close to $27.6 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Mario Gabelli of GAMCO Investors, with a $22.7 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Judging by the fact that Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. (NYSE:AP) has faced falling interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few funds that decided to sell off their full holdings last quarter. Intriguingly, Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors dropped the largest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, totaling close to $0.2 million in stock. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds last quarter.

How have insiders been trading Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. (NYSE:AP)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time frame, Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. (NYSE:AP) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. (NYSE:AP). These stocks are China Ming Yang Wind Power Group Ltd (NYSE:MY), Met-Pro Corporation (NYSE:MPR), Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTX), Tecumseh Products Company (NASDAQ:TECUA), and Flow International Corporation (NASDAQ:FLOW). This group of stocks are in the diversified machinery industry and their market caps resemble AP’s market cap.

With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s research, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. (NYSE:AP) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds