Is Ballantyne Strong Inc (NYSEAMEX:BTN) an excellent investment now? Hedge funds are turning less bullish. The number of long hedge fund positions went down by 2 in recent months.
Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the financial markets. Obviously, there are many stimuli for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors know what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action surrounding Ballantyne Strong Inc (NYSEAMEX:BTN).
Hedge fund activity in Ballantyne Strong Inc (NYSEAMEX:BTN)
At Q1’s end, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -25% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, Ariel Investments, managed by John W. Rogers, holds the largest position in Ballantyne Strong Inc (NYSEAMEX:BTN). Ariel Investments has a $6.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $1.8 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors and Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk’s GRT Capital Partners.
Since Ballantyne Strong Inc (NYSEAMEX:BTN) has witnessed falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of hedge funds who sold off their positions entirely last quarter. At the top of the heap, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw cut the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we track, totaling about $0.2 million in stock., and Andy Redleaf of Whitebox Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $0.1 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds last quarter.
Insider trading activity in Ballantyne Strong Inc (NYSEAMEX:BTN)
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time frame, Ballantyne Strong Inc (NYSEAMEX:BTN) has experienced 4 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned research, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Ballantyne Strong Inc (NYSEAMEX:BTN) applies perfectly to this mantra.