What Hedge Funds Think About SBA Communications Corporation (SBAC)

SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) investors: pay attention to what I’m about to tell you. Returns may be riding on it.

In the financial world, there are plenty of metrics shareholders can use to monitor the equity markets. Two of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can beat the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as necessary, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to analyze the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of motivations for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s important to study the latest info for SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC).

Hedge fund activity in SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC)

Heading into Q3, a total of 33 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -11% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the biggest position in SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC). Citadel Investment Group has a $199.7 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. On Citadel Investment Group’s heels is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $113 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Daniel Arbess’s Xerion and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.

Judging by the fact that SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) has experienced a fall in interest from the smart money’s best and brightest, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few hedgies that elected to cut their positions entirely in Q1. Interestingly, Doug Silverman and Alexander Klabin’s Senator Investment Group cut the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, valued at an estimated $90 million in stock, and John Thaler of JAT Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $70.9 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell by 4 funds in Q1.

How have insiders been trading SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC). These stocks are Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR), Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R), AMERCO (NASDAQ:UHAL), United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI), and Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HTZ). All of these stocks are in the rental & leasing services industry and their market caps resemble SBAC’s market cap.

Using the returns demonstrated by our studies, average investors should always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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