Tronox Ltd (NYSE:TROX) was in 27 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. TROX has seen a decrease in hedge fund interest recently. There were 30 hedge funds in our database with TROX holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In today’s marketplace, there are many metrics shareholders can use to monitor the equity markets. Some of the most innovative 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 elite investment managers can beat the broader indices by a superb amount (see just how much).
Just as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are many incentives for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if you know what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a look at the key action encompassing Tronox Ltd (NYSE:TROX).
What have hedge funds been doing with Tronox Ltd (NYSE:TROX)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 27 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -10% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.
Of the funds we track, Jeffrey Gates’s Gates Capital Management had the most valuable position in Tronox Ltd (NYSE:TROX), worth close to $104.9 million, comprising 6.6% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Avenue Capital, managed by Marc Lasry, which held a $29.9 million position; the fund has 5.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Debra Fine’s Fine Capital Partners, Jonathan Savitz’s Greywolf Capital Management and Joe DiMenna’s ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS.
Since Tronox Ltd (NYSE:TROX) has experienced falling interest from the smart money, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of hedge funds that decided to sell off their entire stakes in Q4. Intriguingly, Dinakar Singh’s TPG-AXON Management LP said goodbye to the largest stake of all the hedgies we track, worth about $29.7 million in stock., and Edward A. Mule of Silver Point Capital was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $27.6 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds in Q4.
What have insiders been doing with Tronox Ltd (NYSE:TROX)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Tronox Ltd (NYSE:TROX) has seen 3 unique insiders purchasing, 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 Tronox Ltd (NYSE:TROX). These stocks are GSE Holding Inc (NYSE:GSE), Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN), NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NL), Axiall Corp (NYSE:AXLL), and Minerals Technologies Inc (NYSE:MTX). This group of stocks belong to the synthetics industry and their market caps are closest to TROX’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| GSE Holding Inc (NYSE:GSE) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NL) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Axiall Corp (NYSE:AXLL) | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Minerals Technologies Inc (NYSE:MTX) | 12 | 0 | 3 |
With the results shown by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Tronox Ltd (NYSE:TROX) is no exception.
