Bristow Group Inc (BRS): Insiders Are Buying, Should You?

Bristow Group Inc (NYSE:BRS) was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. BRS shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with BRS positions at the end of the previous quarter.

According to most market participants, hedge funds are seen as underperforming, old investment tools of years past. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at present, we at Insider Monkey look at the aristocrats of this group, about 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group oversees the majority of the smart money’s total asset base, and by paying attention to their best investments, we have determined a number of investment strategies that have historically outperformed the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have trumped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are a number of stimuli for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a peek at the recent action surrounding Bristow Group Inc (NYSE:BRS).

How have hedgies been trading Bristow Group Inc (NYSE:BRS)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 18% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.

Of the funds we track, John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments had the biggest position in Bristow Group Inc (NYSE:BRS), worth close to $104.7 million, comprising 1.8% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Third Avenue Management, managed by Martin Whitman, which held a $24.7 million position; the fund has 0.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.

As one would reasonably expect, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, established the largest position in Bristow Group Inc (NYSE:BRS). Balyasny Asset Management had 8.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also initiated a $4.6 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new BRS investors: Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Bristow Group Inc (NYSE:BRS)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time period, Bristow Group Inc (NYSE:BRS) has experienced 2 unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Bristow Group Inc (NYSE:BRS). These stocks are Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAWW), Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ADR) (NYSE:ASR), Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Nort(ADR) (NASDAQ:OMAB), Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (ADR) (NYSE:PAC), and Air Methods Corp (NASDAQ:AIRM). This group of stocks are the members of the air services, other industry and their market caps resemble BRS’s market cap.