Hedge Funds Are Selling Seaspan Corporation (SSW)

Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW) has seen a decrease in hedge fund interest in recent months.

In the financial world, there are many gauges investors can use to monitor publicly traded companies. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can beat the market by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Just as integral, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are lots of motivations for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a peek at the key action regarding Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW).

What does the smart money think about Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -14% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.

Of the funds we track, Newbrook Capital Advisors, managed by Robert Boucai, holds the largest position in Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW). Newbrook Capital Advisors has a $22.3 million position in the stock, comprising 2.8% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is PEAK6 Capital Management, managed by Matthew Hulsizer, which held a $2.3 million call position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedgies that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

Due to the fact that Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW) has faced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few money managers who were dropping their positions entirely at the end of the first quarter. At the top of the heap, Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital dumped the largest investment of all the hedgies we key on, comprising about $0.2 million in stock.. Matthew Hulsizer’s fund, PEAK6 Capital Management, also cut its stock, about $0.1 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds at the end of the first quarter.

How are insiders trading Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW). These stocks are Alexander & Baldwin Holdings Inc (NYSE:MATX), Ship Finance International Limited (NYSE:SFL), Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG), Seacor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CKH), and Costamare Inc (NYSE:CMRE). This group of stocks are in the shipping industry and their market caps resemble SSW’s market cap.

With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW) applies perfectly to this mantra.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds