Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (SSRI): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI) was in 7 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. SSRI has experienced a decrease in hedge fund interest of late. There were 10 hedge funds in our database with SSRI positions at the end of the previous quarter.

At the moment, there are tons of metrics shareholders can use to monitor publicly traded companies. A couple 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 best picks of the best money managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. There are lots of motivations for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the key action surrounding Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI).

What does the smart money think about Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -30% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the biggest position in Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI). Royce & Associates has a $123.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jeffrey Vinik of Vinik Asset Management, with a $26.5 million position; 0.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors and Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital.

Since Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI) has faced declining sentiment from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there was a specific group of hedgies that slashed their positions entirely in Q4. Interestingly, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw said goodbye to the biggest investment of all the hedgies we watch, valued at close to $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 $0.7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds in Q4.

How are insiders trading Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI). These stocks are First Majestic Silver Corp (NYSE:AG), Mag Silver Corp (USA) (NYSEAMEX:MVG), Endeavour Silver Corp. (CAN) (NYSE:EXK), Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL), and Silvercorp Metals Inc. (USA) (NYSE:SVM). All of these stocks are in the silver industry and their market caps match SSRI’s market cap.

With the results exhibited by the aforementioned research, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI) is an important part of this process.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds