Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:NCI) has experienced an increase in hedge fund sentiment in recent months.
In the financial world, there are plenty of metrics investors can use to track stocks. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a healthy amount (see just how much).
Equally as key, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. Obviously, there are many reasons for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the recent action surrounding Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:NCI).
What have hedge funds been doing with Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:NCI)?
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 17% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.
When looking at the hedgies we track, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw had the biggest position in Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:NCI), worth close to $4.5 million, accounting for less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $3.6 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that hold long positions include David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
As aggregate interest increased, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Dreman Value Management, managed by David Dreman, assembled the most valuable position in Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:NCI). Dreman Value Management had 2.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also initiated a $0.7 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new NCI investors: Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.
How have insiders been trading Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:NCI)?
Insider buying is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:NCI) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:NCI). These stocks are Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN), Resources Connection, Inc. (NASDAQ:RECN), ICF International Inc (NASDAQ:ICFI), Wageworks Inc (NYSE:WAGE), and Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO). This group of stocks are the members of the management services industry and their market caps are similar to NCI’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) | 13 | 0 | 6 |
| Resources Connection, Inc. (NASDAQ:RECN) | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| ICF International Inc (NASDAQ:ICFI) | 9 | 0 | 2 |
| Wageworks Inc (NYSE:WAGE) | 15 | 1 | 8 |
| Exponent, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) | 6 | 1 | 8 |
With the returns demonstrated by our time-tested strategies, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:NCI) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
