Seaspan Corporation (SSW): Insiders Aren’t Crazy About It

Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW) investors should pay attention to a decrease in hedge fund interest in recent months.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of indicators shareholders can use to track Mr. Market. 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 best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can trounce the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the financial markets. Obviously, there are a variety of stimuli for a bullish insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if investors know where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a look at the recent action surrounding Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW).

How are hedge funds trading Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the largest position in Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW). Renaissance Technologies has a $0.7 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which held a $0.3 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedgies that hold long positions include John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, and Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital.

Because Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW) has experienced a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there exists a select few hedge funds that decided to sell off their full holdings in Q4. Interestingly, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management dropped the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, worth about $0.3 million in stock., and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell of Arrowstreet Capital was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $0.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

How have insiders been trading Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW)?

Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW) has seen 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 Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW). These stocks are Alexander & Baldwin Holdings Inc (NYSE:MATX), Ship Finance International Limited (NYSE:SFL), Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG), Seacor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CKH), and Costamare Inc (NYSE:CMRE). All of these stocks are in the shipping industry and their market caps are closest to SSW’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by our research, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Seaspan Corporation (NYSE:SSW) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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