Is Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (CCO) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?: Millennial Media, Inc. (MM), MDC Partners Inc. (USA) (MDCA)

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO) was in 11 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. CCO has seen a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with CCO positions at the end of the previous quarter.

To most investors, hedge funds are assumed to be slow, outdated financial vehicles of the past. While there are over 8000 funds with their doors open at the moment, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the crème de la crème of this club, around 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by watching their top investments, we have brought to light a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (see the details here).

Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of motivations for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a glance at the key action surrounding Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO).

How have hedgies been trading Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Mason Capital Management, managed by Kenneth Mario Garschina, holds the most valuable position in Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO). Mason Capital Management has a $35.6 million position in the stock, comprising 0.5% of its 13F portfolio. On Mason Capital Management’s heels is Joshua Friedman and Mitchell Julis of Canyon Capital Advisors, with a $27.9 million position; the fund has 3.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include David Abrams’s Abrams Capital Management, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors and John M. Angelo and Michael L. Gordon’s Angelo Gordon & Co.

Because Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO) has witnessed declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that elected to cut their entire stakes in Q4. Intriguingly, Stuart Peterson’s Artis Capital Management dumped the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we track, valued at close to $2.6 million in stock.. Geoffrey Raynor’s fund, Q Investments (Specter Holdings), also sold off its stock, about $0.7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO)?

Insider buying is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 1 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 Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO). These stocks are Millennial Media, Inc. (NYSE:MM), MDC Partners Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:MDCA), National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI), Valassis Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCI), and Arbitron Inc. (NYSE:ARB). All of these stocks are in the marketing services industry and their market caps are similar to CCO’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned studies, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO) is an important part of this process.

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