Is Titan International Inc (NYSE:TWI) a bargain? Prominent investors are taking a bearish view. The number of long hedge fund bets decreased by 1 in recent months.
In today’s marketplace, there are many metrics market participants can use to monitor Mr. Market. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can outclass the broader indices by a very impressive amount (see just how much).
Just as key, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are many stimuli for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if investors know what to do (learn more here).
Now, it’s important to take a peek at the key action surrounding Titan International Inc (NYSE:TWI).
What have hedge funds been doing with Titan International Inc (NYSE:TWI)?
At year’s end, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -6% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.
According to our comprehensive database, Jay Petschek and Steven Major’s Corsair Capital Management had the biggest position in Titan International Inc (NYSE:TWI), worth close to $21.3 million, accounting for 3.7% of its total 13F portfolio. On Corsair Capital Management’s heels is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $8.5 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers with similar optimism include Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Due to the fact that Titan International Inc (NYSE:TWI) has faced a declination in interest from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that decided to sell off their entire stakes in Q4. It’s worth mentioning that Richard Schimel’s Diamondback Capital dumped the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, totaling close to $5.3 million in call options. Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s fund, Algert Coldiron Investors, also sold off its stock, about $0.9 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds in Q4.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Titan International Inc (NYSE:TWI)?
Insider buying is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time period, Titan International Inc (NYSE:TWI) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Titan International Inc (NYSE:TWI). These stocks are Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE), Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE:BERY), Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE:CTB), Rogers Corporation (NYSE:ROG), and Tredegar Corporation (NYSE:TG). All of these stocks are in the rubber & plastics industry and their market caps match TWI’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE) | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE:BERY) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE:CTB) | 20 | 0 | 2 |
| Rogers Corporation (NYSE:ROG) | 10 | 2 | 9 |
| Tredegar Corporation (NYSE:TG) | 6 | 0 | 4 |
With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s studies, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Titan International Inc (NYSE:TWI) is no exception.
