Hedge Funds Are Buying Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LPX)

Is Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX) undervalued? Investors who are in the know are taking a bullish view. The number of bullish hedge fund positions moved up by 3 in recent months.

In the financial world, there are plenty of methods investors can use to watch publicly traded companies. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can beat the S&P 500 by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as important, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of reasons for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a peek at the latest action encompassing Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX).

Hedge fund activity in Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX)

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 31 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 11% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Impala Asset Management, managed by Robert Bishop, holds the largest position in Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX). Impala Asset Management has a $82.6 million position in the stock, comprising 4.3% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Odey Asset Management Group, managed by Crispin Odey, which held a $80.3 million position; 2.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Daniel Arbess’s Xerion, Randall Smith’s Alden Global Capital and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.

Now, some big names were breaking ground themselves. Hilltop Park Associates, managed by Stanley Shopkorn and Douglas Day, initiated the biggest position in Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX). Hilltop Park Associates had 1.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital also made a $0.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Mike Vranos’s Ellington, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, and Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp.

What have insiders been doing with Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX). These stocks are BlueLinx Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BXC) and Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ:BECN). This group of stocks are in the building materials wholesale industry and their market caps resemble LPX’s market cap.