This Metric Says You Are Smart to Sell Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE:FST)

Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE:FST) has seen a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately.

At the moment, there are many methods market participants can use to track stocks. A duo of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can beat the market by a solid amount (see just how much).

Equally as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the world of equities. Obviously, there are a variety of incentives for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action regarding Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE:FST).

What have hedge funds been doing with Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE:FST)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 20 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.

Of the funds we track, Owl Creek Asset Management, managed by Jeffrey Altman, holds the largest position in Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE:FST). Owl Creek Asset Management has a $75 million position in the stock, comprising 2.3% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is SAC Capital Advisors, managed by Steven Cohen, which held a $53 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers with similar optimism include Michael Lowenstein’s Kensico Capital, Don Morgan’s Brigade Capital and Joseph Oughourlian and Michel Brogard’s Amber Capital.

Due to the fact that Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE:FST) has faced falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there was a specific group of fund managers who sold off their positions entirely heading into 2013. It’s worth mentioning that Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital sold off the largest investment of all the hedgies we track, valued at about $14 million in stock.. Raymond J. Harbert’s fund, Harbert Management, also dumped its call options., about $1 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

How have insiders been trading Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE:FST)?

Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE:FST) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns demonstrated by our strategies, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE:FST) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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