Hedge Funds Are Betting On URS Corp (URS)

Is URS Corp (NYSE:URS) an outstanding investment today? Prominent investors are taking an optimistic view. The number of bullish hedge fund positions inched up by 1 in recent months.

To the average investor, there are many gauges investors can use to analyze publicly traded companies. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of incentives for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if investors know where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a gander at the key action regarding URS Corp (NYSE:URS).

What does the smart money think about URS Corp (NYSE:URS)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 6% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.

According to our comprehensive database, Glenview Capital, managed by Larry Robbins, holds the largest position in URS Corp (NYSE:URS). Glenview Capital has a $215.9 million position in the stock, comprising 2.3% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Richard S. Pzena of Pzena Investment Management, with a $41.5 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Scopus Asset Management, managed by Alexander Mitchell, initiated the most valuable position in URS Corp (NYSE:URS). Scopus Asset Management had 3.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Phil Frohlich’s Prescott Group Capital Management also initiated a $1.9 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new URS investors: Douglas W. Case’s Advanced Investment Partners, David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

How have insiders been trading URS Corp (NYSE:URS)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time frame, URS Corp (NYSE:URS) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results shown by our strategies, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and URS Corp (NYSE:URS) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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