Gannett Co., Inc. (GCI): Insiders Aren’t Crazy About It But Hedge Funds Love It

In the financial world, there are plenty of methods market participants can use to analyze stocks. A couple of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best investment managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a superb amount (see just how much).

Equally as useful, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the stock market universe. Obviously, there are many incentives for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Thus, let’s discuss the newest info about Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI).

What have hedge funds been doing with Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI)?

In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 22 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 47% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

Out of the hedge funds we follow, John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments had the biggest position in Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), worth close to $188.3 million, comprising 3.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Jeffrey Jon Berney of TriOaks Capital Management, with a $94.3 million call position; the fund has 16.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

As aggregate interest spiked, particular hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Ariel Investments, managed by John W. Rogers, established the largest position in Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI). Ariel Investments had 188.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jeffrey Jon Berney’s TriOaks Capital Management also initiated a $94.3 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI)?

Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time period, Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) has seen 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 Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI). These stocks are Media General, Inc. (NYSE:MEG), The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), Journal Communications, Inc. (NYSE:JRN), The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE:SSP), and The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT). All of these stocks are in the publishing – newspapers industry and their market caps match GCI’s market cap.

Using the results explained by Insider Monkey’s strategies, average investors must always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) is an important part of this process.

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