Silgan Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SLGN) was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. SLGN investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with SLGN holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
To most shareholders, hedge funds are perceived as underperforming, outdated financial tools of yesteryear. While there are over 8000 funds trading at present, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the moguls of this club, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group oversees the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by monitoring their highest performing investments, we have determined a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced 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 trumped the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (see all of our picks from August).
Just as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. There are many stimuli for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if you understand where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, we’re going to take a look at the key action encompassing Silgan Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SLGN).
How have hedgies been trading Silgan Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SLGN)?
At year’s end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 56% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.
According to our comprehensive database, Amy Minella’s Cardinal Capital had the most valuable position in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SLGN), worth close to $56.4 million, accounting for 3.9% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by David Abrams of Abrams Capital Management, with a $31.5 million position; the fund has 2.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Shane Finemore’s Manikay Partners and Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Kroch’s GRT Capital Partners.
As aggregate interest increased, some big names were breaking ground themselves. Abrams Capital Management, managed by David Abrams, established the biggest position in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SLGN). Abrams Capital Management had 31.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Shane Finemore’s Manikay Partners also initiated a $5.2 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new SLGN positions are Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Kroch’s GRT Capital Partners, John Fichthorn’s Dialectic Capital Management, and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.
Insider trading activity in Silgan Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SLGN)
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, Silgan Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SLGN) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Silgan Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SLGN). These stocks are Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE:BMS), AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR), Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF), Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON), and Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK). All of these stocks are in the packaging & containers industry and their market caps are closest to SLGN’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE:BMS) | 11 | 0 | 2 |
| AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) | 9 | 1 | 6 |
| Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) | 16 | 0 | 8 |
| Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) | 18 | 0 | 9 |
With the results shown by our strategies, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Silgan Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SLGN) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
