Titanium Metals Corp (NYSE:TIE) has experienced a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late.
If you’d ask most stock holders, hedge funds are seen as unimportant, outdated investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at present, we hone in on the elite of this group, about 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group has its hands on most of the smart money’s total capital, and by watching their best investments, we have spotted a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (explore the details and some picks here).
Just as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are a variety of stimuli for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the key action surrounding Titanium Metals Corp (NYSE:TIE).
What does the smart money think about Titanium Metals Corp (NYSE:TIE)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -22% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the biggest position in Titanium Metals Corp (NYSE:TIE). Renaissance Technologies has a $30.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Carlson Capital, managed by Clint Carlson, which held a $9.9 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Carl Tiedemann and Michael Tiedemann’s TIG Advisors, and Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors.
Because Titanium Metals Corp (NYSE:TIE) has faced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there were a few money managers that slashed their full holdings last quarter. Intriguingly, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw said goodbye to the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, totaling about $12 million in stock.. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s fund, Adage Capital Management, also sold off its stock, about $1.4 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds last quarter.
How are insiders trading Titanium Metals Corp (NYSE:TIE)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Titanium Metals Corp (NYSE:TIE) has experienced 2 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Titanium Metals Corp (NYSE:TIE). These stocks are Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP), Tahoe Resources Inc (NYSE:TAHO), Natural Resource Partners LP (NYSE:NRP), Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP), and Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (NYSE:CLF). This group of stocks are in the industrial metals & minerals industry and their market caps are similar to TIE’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Tahoe Resources Inc (NYSE:TAHO) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Natural Resource Partners LP (NYSE:NRP) | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) | 6 | 0 | 3 |
| Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (NYSE:CLF) | 23 | 1 | 5 |
With the results exhibited by our tactics, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Titanium Metals Corp (NYSE:TIE) is no exception.
