NN, Inc. (NNBR), Proto Labs Inc (PRLB): Is Blount International, Inc. (BLT) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Blount International, Inc. (NYSE:BLT) has seen a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of gauges market participants can use to watch publicly traded companies. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can outperform the market by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. There are plenty of stimuli for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if you know what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the recent action encompassing Blount International, Inc. (NYSE:BLT).

Hedge fund activity in Blount International, Inc. (NYSE:BLT)

At year’s end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -7% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, Select Equity Group, managed by Robert Joseph Caruso, holds the most valuable position in Blount International, Inc. (NYSE:BLT). Select Equity Group has a $68.2 million position in the stock, comprising 1.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Richard Chilton of Chilton Investment Company, with a $51.2 million position; 1.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Claus Moller’s P2 Capital Partners, Jonathan Auerbach’s Hound Partners and John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments.

Seeing as Blount International, Inc. (NYSE:BLT) has faced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers that elected to cut their positions entirely heading into 2013. At the top of the heap, Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management sold off the biggest stake of all the hedgies we track, comprising about $43.9 million in stock.. SAC Subsidiary’s fund, CR Intrinsic Investors, also dumped its stock, about $3.6 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds heading into 2013.

Insider trading activity in Blount International, Inc. (NYSE:BLT)

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time period, Blount International, Inc. (NYSE:BLT) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Blount International, Inc. (NYSE:BLT). These stocks are Hardinge Inc. (NASDAQ:HDNG), NN, Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR), Proto Labs Inc (NYSE:PRLB), RBC Bearings Incorporated (NASDAQ:ROLL), and Kaydon Corporation (NYSE:KDN). This group of stocks are the members of the machine tools & accessories industry and their market caps match BLT’s market cap.