This Metric Says You Are Smart to Sell Con-way Inc (CNW)

Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW) was in 15 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. CNW has experienced a decrease in hedge fund interest lately. There were 16 hedge funds in our database with CNW holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

At the moment, there are plenty of gauges shareholders can use to watch their holdings. Some of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Equally as important, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are many incentives for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if you know where to look (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a look at the recent action surrounding Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW).

How have hedgies been trading Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -6% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management had the most valuable position in Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW), worth close to $45.7 million, accounting for 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group, with a $16 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Daniel Lascano’s Lomas Capital Management and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

Because Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW) has witnessed a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few fund managers that slashed their entire stakes at the end of the first quarter. Intriguingly, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies said goodbye to the largest investment of the 450+ funds we track, comprising close to $1.6 million in stock.. David Costen Haley’s fund, HBK Investments, also sold off its stock, about $1 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds at the end of the first quarter.

What have insiders been doing with Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW). These stocks are Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL), Knight Transportation (NYSE:KNX), Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR), Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN), and Swift Transportation Co (NYSE:SWFT). This group of stocks are in the trucking industry and their market caps match CNW’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW) is no exception.

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