Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE) was in 4 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. LEE shareholders have witnessed a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately. There were 5 hedge funds in our database with LEE holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
If you’d ask most investors, hedge funds are seen as worthless, outdated investment vehicles of the past. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at present, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the leaders of this club, close to 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group has its hands on the majority of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by keeping an eye on their highest performing equity investments, we have found a number of investment strategies that have historically outperformed the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (see the details here).
Equally as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the world of equities. Obviously, there are a variety of incentives for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a glance at the recent action regarding Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE).
How are hedge funds trading Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 4 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -20% from the previous quarter.
Judging by the fact that Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few money managers that decided to sell off their full holdings at the end of the year. Intriguingly, Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Kroch’s GRT Capital Partners sold off the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we key on, totaling about $0.1 million in stock. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds at the end of the year.
How have insiders been trading Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE)?
Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time frame, Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, 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 Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE). These stocks are Journal Communications, Inc. (NYSE:JRN), The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), Media General, Inc. (NYSE:MEG), and A. H. Belo Corporation (NYSE:AHC). All of these stocks are in the publishing – newspapers industry and their market caps match LEE’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Journal Communications, Inc. (NYSE:JRN) | 11 | 0 | 2 |
| The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI) | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| Media General, Inc. (NYSE:MEG) | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| A. H. Belo Corporation (NYSE:AHC) | 6 | 0 | 3 |
With the results exhibited by our time-tested strategies, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE) is an important part of this process.
