Diana Shipping Inc. (DSX): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of methods market participants can use to watch stocks. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can beat their index-focused peers by a solid margin (see just how much).

Just as key, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of incentives for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).

What’s more, it’s important to examine the newest info for Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX).

What does the smart money think about Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX)?

At Q2’s end, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 18% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX)Out of the hedge funds we follow, Canyon Capital Advisors, managed by Joshua Friedman and Mitchell Julis, holds the most valuable position in Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX). Canyon Capital Advisors has a $29.1 million position in the stock, comprising 4.6% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Thomas E. Claugus of GMT Capital, with a $15.9 million position; the fund has 0.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and Richard Chilton’s Chilton Investment Company.

As industrywide interest increased, certain money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Canyon Capital Advisors, managed by Joshua Friedman and Mitchell Julis, assembled the most valuable position in Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX). Canyon Capital Advisors had 29.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Thomas E. Claugus’s GMT Capital also initiated a $15.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, and Richard Chilton’s Chilton Investment Company.

How are insiders trading Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX)?

Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX). These stocks are Capital Product Partners L.P. (NASDAQ:CPLP), Alexander & Baldwin Holdings Inc (NYSE:MATX), GasLog Ltd (NYSE:GLOG), DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS), and Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE:NMM). All of these stocks are in the shipping industry and their market caps resemble DSX’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Capital Product Partners L.P. (NASDAQ:CPLP) 5 0 0
Alexander & Baldwin Holdings Inc (NYSE:MATX) 16 0 0
GasLog Ltd (NYSE:GLOG) 6 0 0
DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS) 9 0 0
Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE:NMM) 5 0 0

Using the results explained by the previously mentioned studies, average investors must always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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