Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (SCHN)?

What’s a smart Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCHN) investor to do?

In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of metrics market participants can use to analyze stocks. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as crucial, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the stock market universe. Obviously, there are many stimuli for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

What’s more, it’s important to discuss the recent info for Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCHN).

What does the smart money think about Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCHN)?

At Q2’s end, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -8% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.

According to our 13F database, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the largest position in Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCHN). Royce & Associates has a $69.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Impax Asset Management, managed by Ian Simm, which held a $17 million position; 2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers that are bullish include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Due to the fact Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCHN) has faced declining interest from the top-tier hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few funds that slashed their full holdings last quarter. At the top of the heap, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies dropped the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we track, comprising close to $1.8 million in stock, and D. E. Shaw of D E Shaw was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $0.6 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds last quarter.

How have insiders been trading Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCHN)?

Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCHN) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCHN). These stocks are Park-Ohio Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:PKOH), AZZ Incorporated (NYSE:AZZ), A M Castle and Co (NYSE:CAS), Matthews International Corp (NASDAQ:MATW), and Haynes International, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAYN). All of these stocks are in the metal fabrication industry and their market caps are closest to SCHN’s market cap.