Is Orion Marine Group, Inc. (NYSE:ORN) a sound investment right now? Prominent investors are in an optimistic mood. The number of long hedge fund positions rose by 1 lately.
To most shareholders, hedge funds are assumed to be slow, outdated financial tools of years past. While there are over 8000 funds trading at the moment, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the top tier of this group, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group oversees the majority of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by monitoring their highest performing stock picks, we have unsheathed a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outperformed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).
Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are a variety of motivations for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a peek at the recent action surrounding Orion Marine Group, Inc. (NYSE:ORN).
Hedge fund activity in Orion Marine Group, Inc. (NYSE:ORN)
Heading into Q2, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 11% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.
Of the funds we track, ACK Asset Management, managed by Richard S. Meisenberg, holds the biggest position in Orion Marine Group, Inc. (NYSE:ORN). ACK Asset Management has a $8.1 million position in the stock, comprising 3.5% of its 13F portfolio. On ACK Asset Management’s heels is Iridian Asset Management, managed by David Cohen and Harold Levy, which held a $0.5 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Ken Brodkowitz and Mike Vermut’s Newland Capital and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
Now, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Newland Capital, managed by Ken Brodkowitz and Mike Vermut, established the most valuable position in Orion Marine Group, Inc. (NYSE:ORN). Newland Capital had 0.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital also made a $0.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
What have insiders been doing with Orion Marine Group, Inc. (NYSE:ORN)?
Bullish insider trading is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Orion Marine Group, Inc. (NYSE:ORN) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, 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 Orion Marine Group, Inc. (NYSE:ORN). These stocks are Layne Christensen Company (NASDAQ:LAYN), Sterling Construction Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL), Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD), Matrix Service Co (NASDAQ:MTRX), and Argan, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:AGX). This group of stocks belong to the heavy construction industry and their market caps resemble ORN’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Layne Christensen Company (NASDAQ:LAYN) | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| Sterling Construction Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) | 17 | 1 | 2 |
| Matrix Service Co (NASDAQ:MTRX) | 11 | 0 | 3 |
| Argan, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:AGX) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s strategies, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Orion Marine Group, Inc. (NYSE:ORN) is no exception.
