In the financial world, there are dozens of metrics shareholders can use to analyze the equity markets. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can beat the market by a superb amount (see just how much).
Equally as useful, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of reasons for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to analyze the latest info surrounding Crane Co. (NYSE:CR).
What does the smart money think about Crane Co. (NYSE:CR)?
At the end of the second quarter, a total of 22 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -12% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.
According to our 13F database, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors had the most valuable position in Crane Co. (NYSE:CR), worth close to $213.6 million, accounting for 1.3% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by SAC Capital Advisors, managed by Steven Cohen, which held a $54.8 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management, Larry Foley and Paul Farrell’s Bronson Point Partners and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
Because Crane Co. (NYSE:CR) has witnessed declining interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there is a sect of fund managers that elected to cut their entire stakes last quarter. At the top of the heap, SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors said goodbye to the largest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we track, comprising an estimated $10.3 million in stock. Neil Chriss’s fund, Hutchin Hill Capital, also dropped its stock, about $2 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds last quarter.
How have insiders been trading Crane Co. (NYSE:CR)?
Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, Crane Co. (NYSE:CR) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Crane Co. (NYSE:CR). These stocks are The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD), Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG), 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD), Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII), and Babcock & Wilcox Co (NYSE:BWC). This group of stocks belong to the diversified machinery industry and their market caps are closest to CR’s market cap.
