This Metric Says You Are Smart to Buy Furmanite Corporation (FRM)

Furmanite Corporation (NYSE:FRM) has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest of late.

In today’s marketplace, there are many metrics shareholders can use to analyze publicly traded companies. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can beat their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the stock market universe. There are a number of incentives for a bullish insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a look at the latest action encompassing Furmanite Corporation (NYSE:FRM).

How are hedge funds trading Furmanite Corporation (NYSE:FRM)?

At year’s end, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 17% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.

As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Ariel Investments, managed by John W. Rogers, assembled the biggest position in Furmanite Corporation (NYSE:FRM). Ariel Investments had 3.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also initiated a $0.1 million position during the quarter.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Furmanite Corporation (NYSE:FRM)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, Furmanite Corporation (NYSE:FRM) has experienced 4 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 Furmanite Corporation (NYSE:FRM). These stocks are UniTek Global Services Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTK), Mistras Group, Inc. (NYSE:MG), Engility Holdings Inc (NYSE:EGL), and Michael Baker Corp (NYSEAMEX:BKR). This group of stocks are the members of the technical services industry and their market caps are closest to FRM’s market cap.

With the returns shown by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Furmanite Corporation (NYSE:FRM) applies perfectly to this mantra.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds