Hedge Funds Are Dumping Zoltek Companies, Inc. (ZOLT)

Should Zoltek Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZOLT) investors track the following data?

At the moment, there are a multitude of metrics investors can use to monitor their holdings. A pair of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Equally as useful, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to look at the stock market universe. Obviously, there are a number of stimuli for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if investors know where to look (learn more here).

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s important to analyze the latest info for Zoltek Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZOLT).

How are hedge funds trading Zoltek Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZOLT)?

Heading into Q3, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -13% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the biggest position in Zoltek Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZOLT). Royce & Associates has a $18.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Scoggin, managed by Curtis Schenker and Craig Effron, which held a $18.4 million position; the fund has 2.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Stephen Loukas David A. Lorber Zachary George’s FrontFour Capital Group, Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management and Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital.

Because Zoltek Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZOLT) has witnessed declining interest from the top-tier hedge fund industry, logic holds that there were a few hedgies that slashed their entire stakes last quarter. At the top of the heap, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors said goodbye to the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, valued at close to $0.2 million in stock. Glenn Russell Dubin’s fund, Highbridge Capital Management, also dumped its stock, about $0.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds last quarter.

How are insiders trading Zoltek Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZOLT)?

Insider buying made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time frame, Zoltek Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZOLT) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Zoltek Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZOLT). These stocks are Capstone Turbine Corporation (NASDAQ:CPST), Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESIO), Ameresco Inc (NYSE:AMRC), Preformed Line Products Company (NASDAQ:PLPC), and Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT). All of these stocks are in the industrial electrical equipment industry and their market caps resemble ZOLT’s market cap.

Using the returns explained by our studies, regular investors should always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Zoltek Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZOLT) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Zoltek Companies, Inc. (ZOLT)

Hedge Fund Activity

Insider Trading Activity