Is Electro Rent Corporation (NASDAQ:ELRC) worth your attention right now? Money managers are turning bullish. The number of long hedge fund bets improved by 1 recently.
In the financial world, there are plenty of gauges market participants can use to watch stocks. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can outclass the market by a significant amount (see just how much).
Just as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of motivations for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).
Now, it’s important to take a look at the latest action encompassing Electro Rent Corporation (NASDAQ:ELRC).
How have hedgies been trading Electro Rent Corporation (NASDAQ:ELRC)?
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 17% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the most valuable position in Electro Rent Corporation (NASDAQ:ELRC), worth close to $9 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Gregg J. Powers of Private Capital Management, with a $8.2 million position; 0.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
As aggregate interest increased, some big names were breaking ground themselves. Two Sigma Advisors, managed by John Overdeck and David Siegel, created the biggest position in Electro Rent Corporation (NASDAQ:ELRC). Two Sigma Advisors had 0.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.
What have insiders been doing with Electro Rent Corporation (NASDAQ:ELRC)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Electro Rent Corporation (NASDAQ:ELRC) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Electro Rent Corporation (NASDAQ:ELRC). These stocks are Aircastle Limited (NYSE:AYR), McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC), CAI International Inc (NYSE:CAP), seacube container leasing ltd (NYSE:BOX), and Fly Leasing Ltd(ADR) (NYSE:FLY). This group of stocks belong to the rental & leasing services industry and their market caps are similar to ELRC’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Aircastle Limited (NYSE:AYR) | 18 | 1 | 2 |
| McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) | 6 | 0 | 12 |
| CAI International Inc (NYSE:CAP) | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| seacube container leasing ltd (NYSE:BOX) | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| Fly Leasing Ltd(ADR) (NYSE:FLY) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s tactics, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Electro Rent Corporation (NASDAQ:ELRC) is an important part of this process.
