Hedge Funds Are Buying Daktronics, Inc. (DAKT)

Should Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT) investors track the following data?

At the moment, there are tons of methods market participants can use to track stocks. Two of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outclass the market by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as useful, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to look at the stock market universe. There are a number of motivations for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if investors understand what to do (learn more here).

Furthermore, we’re going to analyze the latest info surrounding Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT).

Hedge fund activity in Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT)

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 27% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.

According to our 13F database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the most valuable position in Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT), worth close to $9.1 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $3 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Now, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, established the most valuable position in Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT). Royce & Associates had 9.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also made a $3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new DAKT positions are Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

What have insiders been doing with Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT) 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 Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT). These stocks are Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL), Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESIO), Ameresco Inc (NYSE:AMRC), Preformed Line Products Company (NASDAQ:PLPC), and Zoltek Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZOLT). All of these stocks are in the industrial electrical equipment industry and their market caps resemble DAKT’s market cap.