Hedge Funds Are Selling Kaman Corporation (KAMN)

Kaman Corporation (NYSE:KAMN) investors should be aware of a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately.

At the moment, there are many metrics shareholders can use to track their holdings. A pair of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as key, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are many motivations for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if investors know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a glance at the key action regarding Kaman Corporation (NYSE:KAMN).

Hedge fund activity in Kaman Corporation (NYSE:KAMN)

In preparation for this year, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors had the most valuable position in Kaman Corporation (NYSE:KAMN), worth close to $102.9 million, accounting for 0.8% of its total 13F portfolio. On GAMCO Investors’s heels is Cardinal Capital, managed by Amy Minella, which held a $33.8 million position; 2.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Seeing as Kaman Corporation (NYSE:KAMN) has experienced a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there were a few funds that slashed their full holdings in Q4. Intriguingly, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management said goodbye to the biggest position of all the hedgies we watch, totaling about $0.3 million in stock. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Kaman Corporation (NYSE:KAMN)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Kaman Corporation (NYSE:KAMN) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Kaman Corporation (NYSE:KAMN). These stocks are Elbit Systems Ltd. (USA) (NASDAQ:ESLT), Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:SWHC), AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR), Orbital Sciences Corp (NYSE:ORB), and Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR). This group of stocks are in the aerospace/defense products & services industry and their market caps match KAMN’s market cap.

With the returns shown by our strategies, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Kaman Corporation (NYSE:KAMN) is an important part of this process.

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