Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About Reliance Steel & Aluminum (RS) Anymore

Due to the fact that Reliance Steel & Aluminum (NYSE:RS) has witnessed a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there were a few fund managers who sold off their full holdings heading into Q4. Interestingly, Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital sold off the largest stake of all the hedgies watched by Insider Monkey, totaling close to $25.7 million in stock, and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $10.6 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Reliance Steel & Aluminum (NYSE:RS) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Tesoro Logistics LP (NYSE:TLLP), Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT), Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R), and FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLIR). This group of stocks’ market valuations match RS’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 24.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $289 million. That figure was $523 million in RS’s case. Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Tesoro Logistics LP (NYSE:TLLP) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Reliance Steel & Aluminum (NYSE:RS) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard CPRT might be a better candidate to consider a long position.