Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS) was in 9 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. FSS investors should be aware of an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently. There were 8 hedge funds in our database with FSS holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In the financial world, there are tons of gauges investors can use to track stocks. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can beat the broader indices by a very impressive amount (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are many stimuli for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a glance at the recent action regarding Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS).
How are hedge funds trading Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 13% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.
According to our comprehensive database, Nelson Obus’s Wynnefield Capital had the most valuable position in Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS), worth close to $19 million, accounting for 6.6% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $15 million position; the fund has 0% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
As aggregate interest increased, some big names have been driving this bullishness. AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, created the biggest position in Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS). AQR Capital Management had 0 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.
How are insiders trading Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS). These stocks are Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE:PII), Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE:THO), Drew Industries, Inc. (NYSE:DW), Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WGO), and Arctic Cat Inc (NASDAQ:ACAT). This group of stocks are in the recreational vehicles industry and their market caps resemble FSS’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE:PII) | 26 | 0 | 11 |
| Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE:THO) | 15 | 1 | 1 |
| Drew Industries, Inc. (NYSE:DW) | 10 | 0 | 9 |
| Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WGO) | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| Arctic Cat Inc (NASDAQ:ACAT) | 13 | 2 | 3 |
With the returns demonstrated by our studies, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
