Here is What Hedge Funds Think About MasTec, Inc. (MTZ)

MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ) has experienced an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately.

At the moment, there are tons of metrics shareholders can use to monitor stocks. Two of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. There are a variety of incentives for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a peek at the key action surrounding MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ).

Hedge fund activity in MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ)

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 27 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 17% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Peconic Partners LLC, managed by William Harnisch, holds the largest position in MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ). Peconic Partners LLC has a $62.4 million position in the stock, comprising 9.6% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, which held a $41.1 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Now, some big names have been driving this bullishness. HBK Investments, managed by David Costen Haley, established the biggest position in MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ). HBK Investments had 32.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital also initiated a $9.8 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Amy Minella’s Cardinal Capital, Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management, and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

Insider trading activity in MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ)

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time period, MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ). These stocks are Primoris Services Corp (NASDAQ:PRIM), Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA), McDermott International (NYSE:MDR), and Foster Wheeler AG (NASDAQ:FWLT). This group of stocks belong to the heavy construction industry and their market caps are closest to MTZ’s market cap.