Is Neenah Paper, Inc. (NYSE:NP) worth your attention right now? The best stock pickers are becoming less confident. The number of long hedge fund bets fell by 1 lately.
At the moment, there are tons of gauges investors can use to monitor the equity markets. Two of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can outperform the market by a superb amount (see just how much).
Just as integral, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of stimuli for a corporate insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if you know what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a peek at the recent action surrounding Neenah Paper, Inc. (NYSE:NP).
How have hedgies been trading Neenah Paper, Inc. (NYSE:NP)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -17% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management had the biggest position in Neenah Paper, Inc. (NYSE:NP), worth close to $2.2 million, accounting for less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. On AQR Capital Management’s heels is Israel Englander of Millennium Management, with a $1.4 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers with similar optimism include Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk’s GRT Capital Partners, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and J. Alan Reid, Jr.’s Forward Management.
Due to the fact that Neenah Paper, Inc. (NYSE:NP) has witnessed a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of funds that slashed their entire stakes in Q1. Intriguingly, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group said goodbye to the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we watch, totaling close to $0.2 million in stock.. Neil Chriss’s fund, Hutchin Hill Capital, also said goodbye to its stock, about $0.2 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds in Q1.
Insider trading activity in Neenah Paper, Inc. (NYSE:NP)
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, Neenah Paper, Inc. (NYSE:NP) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Neenah Paper, Inc. (NYSE:NP). These stocks are Buckeye Technologies Inc. (NYSE:BKI), P.H. Glatfelter Company (NYSE:GLT), Boise Inc. (NYSE:BZ), Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC), and Wausau Paper Corp. (NYSE:WPP). All of these stocks are in the paper & paper products industry and their market caps resemble NP’s market cap.
