Hedge Funds Are Buying Century Aluminum Co (CENX)

Is Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ:CENX) a buy right now? The best stock pickers are getting more bullish. The number of long hedge fund positions rose by 1 lately.

At the moment, there are dozens of methods market participants can use to track Mr. Market. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a significant margin (see just how much).

Equally as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are many stimuli for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if you know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a look at the recent action regarding Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ:CENX).

What have hedge funds been doing with Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ:CENX)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 13% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Impala Asset Management, managed by Robert Bishop, holds the largest position in Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ:CENX). Impala Asset Management has a $28.1 million position in the stock, comprising 1.5% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $12.6 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers have jumped into Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ:CENX) headfirst. Impala Asset Management, managed by Robert Bishop, initiated the most outsized position in Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ:CENX). Impala Asset Management had 28.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management also initiated a $0.4 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new CENX investors: David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital, and Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management.

How are insiders trading Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ:CENX)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ:CENX) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns shown by our tactics, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ:CENX) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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