Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love CIRCOR International, Inc. (CIR)?

Is CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE:CIR) a good investment?

To the average investor, there are a multitude of metrics market participants can use to watch Mr. Market. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can outclass the broader indices by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Just as necessary, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to analyze the world of equities. Obviously, there are a variety of reasons for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if investors know where to look (learn more here).

Thus, it’s important to study the recent info surrounding CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE:CIR).

How have hedgies been trading CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE:CIR)?

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -42% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.

Out of the hedge funds we follow, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors had the largest position in CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE:CIR), worth close to $102.4 million, comprising 0.6% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $51.2 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

Due to the fact CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE:CIR) has faced a fall in interest from the smart money’s best and brightest, it’s easy to see that there is a sect of hedgies that slashed their entire stakes in Q1. It’s worth mentioning that Israel Englander’s Millennium Management cut the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds we track, totaling an estimated $2.4 million in stock. Ken Griffin’s fund, Citadel Investment Group, also said goodbye to its stock, about $0.7 million worth. These moves are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 5 funds in Q1.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE:CIR)?

Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE:CIR) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, 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 CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE:CIR). These stocks are EnPro Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NPO), Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA), Sun Hydraulics Corporation (NASDAQ:SNHY), Standex Int’l Corp. (NYSE:SXI), and H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES). This group of stocks are the members of the industrial equipment & components industry and their market caps resemble CIR’s market cap.