Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) was in 7 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. SB has experienced an increase in hedge fund sentiment recently. There were 4 hedge funds in our database with SB positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In today’s marketplace, there are many methods investors can use to watch the equity markets. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a superb margin (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the financial markets. Obviously, there are lots of stimuli for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if you know what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the recent action encompassing Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB).
What have hedge funds been doing with Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 75% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the most valuable position in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB). Renaissance Technologies has a $0.8 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Two Sigma Advisors, managed by John Overdeck and David Siegel, which held a $0.7 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers have jumped into Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) headfirst. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, created the biggest position in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB). Renaissance Technologies had 0.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital also initiated a $0.1 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Kroch’s GRT Capital Partners.
Insider trading activity in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB)
Insider buying is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time period, Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, 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 Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB). These stocks are StealthGas Inc. (NASDAQ:GASS), Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL), Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. (NYSE:NM), Danaos Corporation (NYSE:DAC), and Ultrapetrol (Bahamas) Limited (NASDAQ:ULTR). All of these stocks are in the shipping industry and their market caps are similar to SB’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| StealthGas Inc. (NASDAQ:GASS) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. (NYSE:NM) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Danaos Corporation (NYSE:DAC) | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Ultrapetrol (Bahamas) Limited (NASDAQ:ULTR) | 3 | 0 | 0 |
With the results shown by the aforementioned strategies, everyday investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) is an important part of this process.
