GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT) was in 12 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. GMT shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund sentiment in recent months. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with GMT holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In today’s marketplace, there are a multitude of metrics market participants can use to analyze their holdings. A couple of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a solid margin (see just how much).
Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are many incentives for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a peek at the recent action encompassing GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT).
What have hedge funds been doing with GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT)?
At year’s end, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 71% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.
Of the funds we track, GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, holds the biggest position in GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT). GAMCO Investors has a $155.9 million position in the stock, comprising 1.1% of its 13F portfolio. On GAMCO Investors’s heels is D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, which held a $13.6 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management, Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Consequently, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Ascend Capital, managed by Malcolm Fairbairn, established the most valuable position in GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT). Ascend Capital had 5.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $1.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new GMT positions are John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, and Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital.
Insider trading activity in GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT)
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time period, GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT) has seen 2 unique insiders purchasing, and 6 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 GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT). These stocks are Air Lease Corp (NYSE:AL), Rent-A-Center Inc (NASDAQ:RCII), Aaron’s, Inc. (NYSE:AAN), and Textainer Group Holdings Limited (NYSE:TGH). This group of stocks are the members of the rental & leasing services industry and their market caps resemble GMT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Air Lease Corp (NYSE:AL) | 15 | 1 | 1 |
| Rent-A-Center Inc (NASDAQ:RCII) | 16 | 0 | 2 |
| Aaron’s, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) | 15 | 0 | 2 |
| Textainer Group Holdings Limited (NYSE:TGH) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
