Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) was in 7 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. FWRD investors should pay attention to a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with FWRD positions at the end of the previous quarter.
According to most market participants, hedge funds are seen as worthless, outdated financial tools of yesteryear. While there are over 8000 funds trading at the moment, we at Insider Monkey look at the bigwigs of this club, close to 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group has its hands on the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by monitoring their top equity investments, we have spotted a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (see the details here).
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Now, let’s take a glance at the latest action regarding Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD).
Hedge fund activity in Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD)
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -22% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD), worth close to $81.9 million, comprising 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $5 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers with similar optimism include Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
Due to the fact that Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) has experienced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few funds who were dropping their full holdings heading into 2013. It’s worth mentioning that James A. Noonan’s Pivot Point Capital said goodbye to the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, comprising close to $14.2 million in stock.. Andy Redleaf’s fund, Whitebox Advisors, also cut its stock, about $0.7 million worth. These moves are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds heading into 2013.
What have insiders been doing with Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD). These stocks are XPO Logistics Inc (NYSE:XPO), Air Transport Services Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG), Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc (NYSE:RRTS), UTi Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ:UTIW), and Hub Group Inc (NASDAQ:HUBG). This group of stocks are in the air delivery & freight services industry and their market caps match FWRD’s market cap.
