STR Holdings, Inc. (STRI): Hedge Funds and Insiders Are Bearish, What Should You Do?

Is STR Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:STRI) a buy right now? Hedge funds are turning less bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went down by 3 recently.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many methods market participants can use to track stocks. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of incentives for a corporate insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action surrounding STR Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:STRI).

What does the smart money think about STR Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:STRI)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -33% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the biggest position in STR Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:STRI), worth close to $1.6 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $0.4 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Michael Katz’s Glenrock Global Partners and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Seeing as STR Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:STRI) has faced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there was a specific group of money managers that elected to cut their entire stakes in Q1. It’s worth mentioning that Jason F. Harris’s Kendall Square Capital dumped the largest position of the 450+ funds we watch, totaling close to $1.7 million in stock., and Charles Davidson of Wexford Capital was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $0.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 3 funds in Q1.

What have insiders been doing with STR Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:STRI)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time period, STR Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:STRI) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s strategies, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and STR Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:STRI) is no exception.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds