Should You Buy YRC Worldwide, Inc. (YRCW)?

YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW) shareholders have witnessed an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately.

At the moment, there are a multitude of metrics market participants can use to monitor their holdings. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can beat the S&P 500 by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as integral, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of reasons for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a glance at the key action surrounding YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW).

What does the smart money think about YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 50% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Phil Frohlich’s Prescott Group Capital Management had the most valuable position in YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW), worth close to $3.7 million, comprising 1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Prescott Group Capital Management’s heels is Marc Lasry of Avenue Capital, with a $1.8 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedgies that are bullish include Marc Lasry’s Avenue Capital, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Jeffrey Altman’s Owl Creek Asset Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers have jumped into YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW) headfirst. AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, initiated the biggest position in YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW). AQR Capital Management had 0.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Christopher Pucillo’s Solus Alternative Asset Management also initiated a $0.1 million position during the quarter.

What have insiders been doing with YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time frame, YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW). These stocks are Frozen Food Express Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFEX), Vitran Corporation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:VTNC), P.A.M. Transportation Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTSI), Covenant Transportation Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVTI), and USA Truck, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAK). This group of stocks are the members of the trucking industry and their market caps match YRCW’s market cap.