Here is What Hedge Funds Think About World Fuel Services Corporation (INT): Delek US Holdings, Inc. (DK), Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P (CLMT)

World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT) investors should pay attention to a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late.

In the financial world, there are dozens of methods investors can use to track stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can beat the broader indices by a solid amount (see just how much).

Just as important, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are plenty of reasons for a corporate insider to sell 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 tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a peek at the key action surrounding World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT).

What does the smart money think about World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Amy Minella’s Cardinal Capital had the biggest position in World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT), worth close to $43 million, comprising 2.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Samlyn Capital, managed by Robert Pohly, which held a $28 million position; the fund has 1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital.

Seeing as World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT) has faced falling interest from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there were a few funds who were dropping their positions entirely heading into 2013. Interestingly, Ben Levine, Andrew Manuel and Stefan Renold’s LMR Partners dropped the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we track, worth about $1 million in stock., and Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $0 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

What have insiders been doing with World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time frame, World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT). These stocks are Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK), Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P (NASDAQ:CLMT), Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. (ADR) (NYSE:SHI), Western Refining, Inc. (NYSE:WNR), and Northern Tier Energy LP (NYSE:NTI). This group of stocks are in the oil & gas refining & marketing industry and their market caps are similar to INT’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s strategies, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT) applies perfectly to this mantra.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds