Hedge Funds Are Selling Superior Industries International Inc. (SUP)

Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP) investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund sentiment lately.

To the average investor, there are tons of methods investors can use to track their holdings. A couple of the best 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 fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of incentives for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if investors know what to do (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a peek at the latest action encompassing Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP).

What does the smart money think about Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Third Avenue Management, managed by Martin Whitman, holds the largest position in Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP). Third Avenue Management has a $33.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.6% of its 13F portfolio. On Third Avenue Management’s heels is Mario Gabelli of GAMCO Investors, with a $32.9 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

Judging by the fact that Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP) has experienced falling interest from hedge fund managers, we can see that there exists a select few hedgies that decided to sell off their entire stakes in Q1. At the top of the heap, Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp dropped the biggest stake of the 450+ funds we monitor, valued at an estimated $0.4 million in stock., and John Overdeck and David Siegel of Two Sigma Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $0.3 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

Insider trading activity in Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP)

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP). These stocks are Modine Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:MOD), Federal-Mogul Corporation (NASDAQ:FDML), Remy International Inc (NASDAQ:REMY), Meritor Inc (NYSE:MTOR), and Gentherm Inc (NASDAQ:THRM). This group of stocks are the members of the auto parts industry and their market caps resemble SUP’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s studies, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Superior Industries International Inc. (NYSE:SUP) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds