Is Westport Innovations Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:WPRT) hedgies are turning a bit sour on the energy company, at least from an aggregate standpoint. The stock is up a little less than 4% year-to-date, so this news certainly isn’t good.
In today’s marketplace, there are tons of indicators market participants can use to monitor their holdings. Some of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as key, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of motivations for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the latest action encompassing Westport Innovations Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:WPRT).
Hedge fund activity in Westport Innovations Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:WPRT)
Heading into Q2, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -15% from the second quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.
Seeing as Westport Innovations Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:WPRT) has faced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there were a few money managers that decided to sell off their positions entirely in Q1. At the top of the heap, Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management dropped the largest investment of all the hedgies we monitor, totaling close to $8.9 million in stock., and George Soros of Soros Fund Management was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $5.4 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds in Q1.
How have insiders been trading Westport Innovations Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:WPRT)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, Westport Innovations Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:WPRT) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Westport Innovations Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:WPRT). These stocks are Dana Holding Corporation (NYSE:DAN), American Axle & Manufact. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL), Tenneco Inc (NYSE:TEN), Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO), and Dorman Products Inc. (NASDAQ:DORM). All of these stocks are in the auto parts industry and their market caps resemble WPRT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Dana Holding Corporation (NYSE:DAN) | 34 | 0 | 3 |
| American Axle & Manufact. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL) | 22 | 0 | 1 |
| Tenneco Inc (NYSE:TEN) | 20 | 1 | 8 |
| Monro Muffler Brake Inc (NASDAQ:MNRO) | 7 | 1 | 7 |
| Dorman Products Inc. (NASDAQ:DORM) | 10 | 0 | 10 |
With the returns demonstrated by our time-tested strategies, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Westport Innovations Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:WPRT) is no exception.
