Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK) was in 9 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. ROCK has experienced an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months. There were 8 hedge funds in our database with ROCK positions at the end of the previous quarter.
According to most investors, hedge funds are assumed to be unimportant, outdated investment tools of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading at present, we choose to focus on the bigwigs of this club, about 450 funds. It is estimated that this group oversees the lion’s share of the smart money’s total asset base, and by monitoring their best investments, we have unearthed a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have trumped the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (explore the details and some picks here).
Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the world of equities. Obviously, there are a variety of stimuli for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).
Now, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action encompassing Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK).
How are hedge funds trading Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 13% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the biggest position in Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK), worth close to $10 million, accounting for 0% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $10 million position; 0% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that are bullish include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Consequently, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, created the largest position in Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK). Citadel Investment Group had 0 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also made a $0 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
How are insiders trading Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK). These stocks are Northwest Pipe Company (NASDAQ:NWPX), SunCoke Energy, Inc (NYSE:SXC), Insteel Industries Inc (NASDAQ:IIIN), Metals USA Holdings Corp (NYSE:MUSA), and AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS). This group of stocks are the members of the steel & iron industry and their market caps match ROCK’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Northwest Pipe Company (NASDAQ:NWPX) | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| SunCoke Energy, Inc (NYSE:SXC) | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Insteel Industries Inc (NASDAQ:IIIN) | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Metals USA Holdings Corp (NYSE:MUSA) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS) | 19 | 6 | 0 |
With the results exhibited by our research, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
