Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW): Insiders Are Dumping, Should You? – Knight Transportation (NYSE:KNX), Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN)

Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately.

In today’s marketplace, there are a multitude of methods shareholders can use to analyze publicly traded companies. A duo of the most useful 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 beat the S&P 500 by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are a number of stimuli for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if you understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action regarding Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW).

What does the smart money think about Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.

Of the funds we track, Pzena Investment Management, managed by Richard S. Pzena, holds the biggest position in Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW). Pzena Investment Management has a $41 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. On Pzena Investment Management’s heels is Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $11 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and Anil Stevens and Glenn Shapiro’s Parameter Capital Management.

Seeing as Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW) has witnessed falling interest from the smart money, logic holds that there was a specific group of fund managers that decided to sell off their positions entirely last quarter. At the top of the heap, Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management sold off the largest investment of all the hedgies we monitor, worth about $10 million in stock.. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s fund, Adage Capital Management, also cut its stock, about $7 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

Insider trading activity in Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW). These stocks are Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL), Knight Transportation (NYSE:KNX), Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR), Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN), and Swift Transportation Co (NYSE:SWFT). All of these stocks are in the trucking industry and their market caps resemble CNW’s market cap.

With the results shown by our studies, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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