Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc (RRTS): Hedge Funds Are Bearish and Insiders Are Bullish, What Should You Do?

Is Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc (NYSE:RRTS) ready to raly soon? Investors who are in the know are turning less bullish. The number of long hedge fund bets stayed the same which is a slightly negative development in our experience

In the financial world, there are dozens of methods shareholders can use to analyze 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 top picks of the best money managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a solid amount (see just how much).

Just as key, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are many incentives for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a glance at the key action surrounding Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc (NYSE:RRTS).

What does the smart money think about Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc (NYSE:RRTS)?

At year’s end, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Amy Minella’s Cardinal Capital had the largest position in Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc (NYSE:RRTS), worth close to $8.7 million, accounting for 0.6% of its total 13F portfolio. On Cardinal Capital’s heels is Richard S. Meisenberg of ACK Asset Management, with a $5.8 million position; 2.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider’s SG Capital Management, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital.

Due to the fact that Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc (NYSE:RRTS) has experienced falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of fund managers that slashed their entire stakes last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Jeffrey Vinik’s Vinik Asset Management dropped the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we track, totaling an estimated $0.9 million in stock.. Jim Simons’s fund, Renaissance Technologies, also sold off its stock, about $0.3 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 Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc (NYSE:RRTS)?

Insider buying is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc (NYSE:RRTS) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc (NYSE:RRTS). These stocks are XPO Logistics Inc (NYSE:XPO), Air Transport Services Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ATSG), UTi Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ:UTIW), Hub Group Inc (NASDAQ:HUBG), and Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD). This group of stocks belong to the air delivery & freight services industry and their market caps are closest to RRTS’s market cap.

With the results exhibited by the aforementioned tactics, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc (NYSE:RRTS) is no exception.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds