CLARCOR Inc. (CLC): Insiders Are Dumping, Should You? – Tennant Company (TNC), Donaldson Company, Inc. (DCI)

Is CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE:CLC) worth your attention right now? Money managers are turning less bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund positions stayed the same which is a slightly negative development in our experience

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of methods market participants can use to watch Mr. Market. Two of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can outpace the broader indices by a superb margin (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are a variety of incentives for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the key action encompassing CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE:CLC).

What does the smart money think about CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE:CLC)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, holds the largest position in CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE:CLC). GAMCO Investors has a $52 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. On GAMCO Investors’s heels is Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $36 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital and Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management.

Due to the fact that CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE:CLC) has faced bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there is a sect of hedgies that decided to sell off their full holdings last quarter. Intriguingly, Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s First Pacific Advisors LLC sold off the biggest position of the 450+ funds we watch, worth about $24 million in stock., and Richard Schimel of Diamondback Capital was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $2 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

What have insiders been doing with CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE:CLC)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time frame, CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE:CLC) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE:CLC). These stocks are ADA-ES, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADES), Heritage-Crystal Clean, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCCI), Tennant Company (NYSE:TNC), Calgon Carbon Corporation (NYSE:CCC), and Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI). All of these stocks are in the pollution & treatment controls industry and their market caps resemble CLC’s market cap.

With the results demonstrated by our strategies, everyday investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE:CLC) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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