Hedge Funds Are Buying Owens Corning (OC)

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) was in 47 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. OC investors should be aware of an increase in enthusiasm from smart money recently. There were 41 hedge funds in our database with OC holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In today’s marketplace, there are plenty of indicators shareholders can use to analyze stocks. Two 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 best money managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a solid margin (see just how much).

Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the financial markets. There are many stimuli for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if you understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a peek at the key action regarding Owens Corning (NYSE:OC).

Hedge fund activity in Owens Corning (NYSE:OC)

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 47 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 15% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, Wayzata Investment Partners, managed by Patrick Halloran, holds the most valuable position in Owens Corning (NYSE:OC). Wayzata Investment Partners has a $325.6 million position in the stock, comprising 35.8% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is John Griffin of Blue Ridge Capital, with a $282.1 million position; the fund has 3.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Alan Fournier’s Pennant Capital Management, David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management LP and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.

As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Samlyn Capital, managed by Robert Pohly, established the largest position in Owens Corning (NYSE:OC). Samlyn Capital had 62 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Kevin Michael Ulrich’s Anchorage Advisors also initiated a $19.7 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new OC investors: Curtis Schenker and Craig Effron’s Scoggin, SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors, and Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Capital.

Insider trading activity in Owens Corning (NYSE:OC)

Bullish insider trading is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time frame, Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Owens Corning (NYSE:OC). These stocks are USG Corporation (NYSE:USG), Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS), Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC), Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (NYSE:AWI), and Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM). All of these stocks are in the general building materials industry and their market caps are similar to OC’s market cap.

With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) is an important part of this process.

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