Here is What Hedge Funds Think About TMS International Corp. (TMS)

TMS International Corp. (NYSE:TMS) has seen a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently.

At the moment, there are tons of metrics shareholders can use to monitor their holdings. Some of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid margin (see just how much).

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Just as important, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. There are a number of incentives for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if investors understand what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a peek at the key action surrounding TMS International Corp. (NYSE:TMS).

How have hedgies been trading TMS International Corp. (NYSE:TMS)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.

According to our comprehensive database, Howard Marks’s Oaktree Capital Management had the largest position in TMS International Corp. (NYSE:TMS), worth close to $14.5 million, comprising 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Eric Edidin and Josh Lobel of Archer Capital Management, with a $6.4 million position; 1.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management, Bill Miller’s Legg Mason Capital Management and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.

Since TMS International Corp. (NYSE:TMS) has faced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that decided to sell off their positions entirely last quarter. Interestingly, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management dumped the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, comprising an estimated $0.6 million in stock., and Mike Vranos of Ellington was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $0.3 million worth. These moves are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

What do corporate executives and insiders think about TMS International Corp. (NYSE:TMS)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, TMS International Corp. (NYSE:TMS) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to TMS International Corp. (NYSE:TMS). These stocks are Thermon Group Holdings Inc (NYSE:THR), The Gorman-Rupp Company (NYSEAMEX:GRC), ExOne Co (NASDAQ:XONE), John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT), and China Yuchai International Limited (NYSE:CYD). This group of stocks belong to the diversified machinery industry and their market caps are closest to TMS’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Thermon Group Holdings Inc (NYSE:THR) 10 1 4
The Gorman-Rupp Company (NYSEAMEX:GRC) 2 1 1
ExOne Co (NASDAQ:XONE) 8 4 1
John Bean Technologies Corporation (NYSE:JBT) 15 0 4
China Yuchai International Limited (NYSE:CYD) 8 0 0

With the results exhibited by the aforementioned tactics, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and TMS International Corp. (NYSE:TMS) is no exception.

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