Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA) has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest of late.
To the average investor, there are tons of metrics investors can use to analyze publicly traded companies. A couple of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a solid amount (see just how much).
Equally as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. Obviously, there are many incentives for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a peek at the latest action encompassing Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA).
How have hedgies been trading Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 70% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.
Of the funds we track, Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, holds the biggest position in Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA). Columbus Circle Investors has a $14 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On Columbus Circle Investors’s heels is Sandler Capital Management, managed by Andrew Sandler, which held a $8 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
As aggregate interest increased, some big names were breaking ground themselves. Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, established the biggest position in Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA). Columbus Circle Investors had 14 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management also initiated a $8 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new GVA investors: Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management.
How are insiders trading Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA)?
Insider buying is most useful when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns demonstrated by our tactics, everyday investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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