Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR): Insiders Are Dumping, Should You?

Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR) was in 28 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. ANR investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 26 hedge funds in our database with ANR holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

Alpha Natural Resources

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Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the key action encompassing Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR).

How have hedgies been trading Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 28 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 8% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.

Of the funds we track, Michael Johnston’s Steelhead Partners had the most valuable position in Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR), worth close to $91 million, accounting for 6.7% of its total 13F portfolio. On Steelhead Partners’s heels is Paulson & Co, managed by John Paulson, which held a $58 million position; 0.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Matthew Halbower’s Pentwater Capital Management.

As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Paulson & Co, managed by John Paulson, initiated the biggest position in Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR). Paulson & Co had 58 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management also initiated a $7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group, Anthony Giammalva’s Sound Energy Partners, and John Burbank’s Passport Capital.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns shown by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR) is an important part of this process.

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