Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW) was in 17 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. SLW shareholders have witnessed an increase in enthusiasm from smart money recently. There were 16 hedge funds in our database with SLW positions at the end of the previous quarter.
To the average investor, there are a multitude of metrics investors can use to monitor publicly traded companies. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can beat their index-focused peers by a superb margin (see just how much).
Equally as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are a number of incentives for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if you understand what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a gander at the key action regarding Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW).
What have hedge funds been doing with Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 6% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.
As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers have jumped into Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW) headfirst. Ionic Capital Management, managed by Bart Baum, assembled the largest call position in Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW). Ionic Capital Management had 1.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also initiated a $0.5 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new SLW position is John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
How have insiders been trading Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW)?
Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW). These stocks are Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI), Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL), First Majestic Silver Corp (NYSE:AG), Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation (NYSE:CDE), and Pan American Silver Corp. (USA) (NASDAQ:PAAS). This group of stocks are in the silver industry and their market caps are closest to SLW’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) | 21 | 1 | 0 |
| First Majestic Silver Corp (NYSE:AG) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation (NYSE:CDE) | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| Pan American Silver Corp. (USA) (NASDAQ:PAAS) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
With the results shown by our strategies, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW) is no exception.
