Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately.
In today’s marketplace, there are a multitude of indicators shareholders can use to watch Mr. Market. A duo 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 best picks of the top money managers can beat the broader indices by a superb amount (see just how much).
Just as key, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. Obviously, there are lots of motivations for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action encompassing Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP).
What have hedge funds been doing with Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 43% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Martin Whitman’s Third Avenue Management had the largest position in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP), worth close to $51.7 million, accounting for 1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $21.8 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Bill Miller’s Legg Mason Capital Management.
As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds have jumped into Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) headfirst. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, initiated the biggest position in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP). Renaissance Technologies had 4.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Sean Cullinan’s Point State Capital also made a $1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new CMP positions are Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.
How are insiders trading Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP)?
Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP). These stocks are PVR Partners LP (NYSE:PVR), Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP), Titanium Metals Corp (NYSE:TIE), Tahoe Resources Inc (NYSE:TAHO), and Natural Resource Partners LP (NYSE:NRP). This group of stocks are the members of the industrial metals & minerals industry and their market caps match CMP’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| PVR Partners LP (NYSE:PVR) | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Titanium Metals Corp (NYSE:TIE) | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Tahoe Resources Inc (NYSE:TAHO) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Natural Resource Partners LP (NYSE:NRP) | 4 | 4 | 0 |
With the returns shown by our strategies, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) is no exception.
