Here is What Hedge Funds Think About TravelCenters of America LLC (TA), Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc (OMEX), Medifast, Inc. (MED)

Is TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSEAMEX:TA) a buy here? Investors who are in the know are becoming less confident. The number of long hedge fund bets shrunk by 1 recently.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of indicators market participants can use to analyze publicly traded companies. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a significant amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. There are many motivations for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a gander at the key action encompassing TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSEAMEX:TA).

What have hedge funds been doing with TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSEAMEX:TA)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -11% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, Whitebox Advisors, managed by Andy Redleaf, holds the most valuable position in TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSEAMEX:TA). Whitebox Advisors has a $3 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $3 million position; the fund has 0% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Peter A. Wright’s P.A.W. CAPITAL PARTNERS and Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors.

Since TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSEAMEX:TA) has faced declining sentiment from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there was a specific group of funds that slashed their entire stakes last quarter. At the top of the heap, Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Kroch’s GRT Capital Partners dumped the largest stake of the 450+ funds we monitor, comprising an estimated $0 million in stock.. Israel Englander’s fund, Millennium Management, also sold off its stock, about $0 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds last quarter.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSEAMEX:TA)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time frame, TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSEAMEX:TA) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSEAMEX:TA). These stocks are Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc (NASDAQ:OMEX), Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED), Winmark Corporation (NASDAQ:WINA), XO Group Inc (NYSE:XOXO), and West Marine, Inc. (NASDAQ:WMAR). All of these stocks are in the specialty retail, other industry and their market caps resemble TA’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned research, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSEAMEX:TA) is an important part of this process.

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