To the average investor, there are many indicators market participants can use to monitor Mr. Market. Two of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a solid margin (see just how much).
Just as crucial, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to look at the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are many stimuli for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).
Now that that’s out of the way, we’re going to analyze the newest info about Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK).
Hedge fund activity in Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK)
At the end of the second quarter, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 10% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.
According to our 13F database, Sagard Capital Partners Management Corp, managed by Dan Friedberg, holds the most valuable position in Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK). Sagard Capital Partners Management Corp has a $22.1 million position in the stock, comprising 7.8% of its 13F portfolio. On Sagard Capital Partners Management Corp’s heels is Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $9 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Eric Edidin and Josh Lobel’s Archer Capital Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Jason F. Harris’s Kendall Square Capital.
As one would understandably expect, certain bigger names have been driving this bullishness. Sagard Capital Partners Management Corp, managed by Dan Friedberg, initiated the biggest position in Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK). Sagard Capital Partners Management Corp had 22.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates also made a $9 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Eric Edidin and Josh Lobel’s Archer Capital Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, and Jason F. Harris’s Kendall Square Capital.
What have insiders been doing with Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK)?
Insider buying made by high-level executives is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time period, Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Gibraltar Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ROCK). These stocks are Northwest Pipe Company (NASDAQ:NWPX), SunCoke Energy, Inc (NYSE:SXC), Insteel Industries Inc (NASDAQ:IIIN), Metals USA Holdings Corp (NYSE:MUSA), and AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS). This group of stocks are in the steel & iron industry and their market caps resemble ROCK’s market cap.
