Hedge Funds Are Buying Fluor Corporation (NEW) (FLR)

Fluor Corporation (NEW) (NYSE:FLR) investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months.

According to most market participants, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, outdated financial tools of yesteryear. While there are over 8000 funds in operation at present, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the upper echelon of this club, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group controls the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by monitoring their best stock picks, we have unsheathed a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have trumped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Equally as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of stimuli for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a peek at the key action surrounding Fluor Corporation (NEW) (NYSE:FLR).

Hedge fund activity in Fluor Corporation (NEW) (NYSE:FLR)

Heading into Q2, a total of 32 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 14% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Impala Asset Management, managed by Robert Bishop, holds the biggest position in Fluor Corporation (NEW) (NYSE:FLR). Impala Asset Management has a $51.4 million position in the stock, comprising 2.7% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Tetrem Capital Management, managed by Daniel Bubis, which held a $41.4 million position; 1.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedgies that are bullish include Alan Fournier’s Pennant Capital Management, George Soros’s Soros Fund Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Consequently, key money managers have jumped into Fluor Corporation (NEW) (NYSE:FLR) headfirst. Soros Fund Management, managed by George Soros, assembled the most outsized position in Fluor Corporation (NEW) (NYSE:FLR). Soros Fund Management had 25.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also made a $24.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new FLR investors: William Harnisch’s Peconic Partners LLC, David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management LP, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

How have insiders been trading Fluor Corporation (NEW) (NYSE:FLR)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Fluor Corporation (NEW) (NYSE:FLR) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Fluor Corporation (NEW) (NYSE:FLR). These stocks are Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA), MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ), Foster Wheeler AG (NASDAQ:FWLT), and McDermott International (NYSE:MDR). All of these stocks are in the heavy construction industry and their market caps are closest to FLR’s market cap.