Hedge Funds Are Selling Gannett Co., Inc. (GCI)

Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) has seen a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late.

In today’s marketplace, there are many methods shareholders can use to track the equity markets. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can outpace the market by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Just as important, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of reasons for a corporate insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the recent action surrounding Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI).

Hedge fund activity in Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI)

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -38% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments had the largest position in Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), worth close to $181.1 million, accounting for 3.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by TriOaks Capital Management, managed by Jeffrey Jon Berney, which held a $125.9 million call position; 17.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.

Seeing as Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) has witnessed a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of money managers who sold off their entire stakes at the end of the first quarter. At the top of the heap, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors sold off the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, totaling about $13.3 million in stock.. Jeffrey Jon Berney’s fund, TriOaks Capital Management, also said goodbye to its stock, about $5 million worth. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 9 funds at the end of the first quarter.

What have insiders been doing with Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI). These stocks are Media General, Inc. (NYSE:MEG), The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), Journal Communications, Inc. (NYSE:JRN), The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE:SSP), and The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT). All of these stocks are in the publishing – newspapers industry and their market caps are closest to GCI’s market cap.