Harbinger Group Inc (HRG): Insiders Aren’t Crazy About It But Hedge Funds Love It

Should Harbinger Group Inc (NYSE:HRG) investors track the following data?

In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of methods shareholders can use to analyze publicly traded companies. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Equally as crucial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to analyze the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of incentives for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if investors understand where to look (learn more here).

What’s more, it’s important to study the newest info surrounding Harbinger Group Inc (NYSE:HRG).

How have hedgies been trading Harbinger Group Inc (NYSE:HRG)?

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 45% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.

According to our 13F database, Harbinger, managed by Phil Falcone, holds the largest position in Harbinger Group Inc (NYSE:HRG). Harbinger has a $729.6 million position in the stock, comprising 29% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisors, with a $37.7 million position; the fund has 0.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include James H. Litinsky’s JHL Capital Group, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and James Pallotta’s Raptor Capital Management.

As industrywide interest increased, certain bigger names were leading the bulls’ herd. Harbinger, managed by Phil Falcone, assembled the biggest position in Harbinger Group Inc (NYSE:HRG). Harbinger had 729.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors also initiated a $37.7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new HRG positions are James H. Litinsky’s JHL Capital Group, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, and James Pallotta’s Raptor Capital Management.

What have insiders been doing with Harbinger Group Inc (NYSE:HRG)?

Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time period, Harbinger Group Inc (NYSE:HRG) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Harbinger Group Inc (NYSE:HRG). These stocks are Hyde Park Acquisition Corp II (NASDAQ:HPAC), New Mountain Finance Corp. (NYSE:NMFC), Lydall, Inc. (NYSE:LDL), Steel Partners Holdings LP (NYSE:SPLP), and Global Eagle Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:ENT). All of these stocks are in the conglomerates industry and their market caps match HRG’s market cap.