Hedge Funds Are Buying Wabash National Corporation (WNC)

Is Wabash National Corporation (NYSE:WNC) a buy right now? The smart money is buying. The number of long hedge fund bets improved by 4 in recent months.

In today’s marketplace, there are many metrics market participants can use to track the equity markets. Two of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outperform the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of incentives for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a look at the recent action surrounding Wabash National Corporation (NYSE:WNC).

How are hedge funds trading Wabash National Corporation (NYSE:WNC)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 31% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Peconic Partners LLC, managed by William Harnisch, holds the biggest position in Wabash National Corporation (NYSE:WNC). Peconic Partners LLC has a $22.7 million position in the stock, comprising 3.5% of its 13F portfolio. On Peconic Partners LLC’s heels is David Keidan of Buckingham Capital Management, with a $11 million position; 1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers that hold long positions include John Murphy’s Alydar Capital, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital.

As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Alydar Capital, managed by John Murphy, established the largest position in Wabash National Corporation (NYSE:WNC). Alydar Capital had 5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Crispin Odey’s Odey Asset Management Group also initiated a $1.7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new WNC positions are SAC Subsidiary’s Sigma Capital Management, Mike Vranos’s Ellington, and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.

What have insiders been doing with Wabash National Corporation (NYSE:WNC)?

Insider buying is most useful when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Wabash National Corporation (NYSE:WNC) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Wabash National Corporation (NYSE:WNC). These stocks are Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK), Navistar International Corp (NYSE:NAV), Spartan Motors Inc (NASDAQ:SPAR), Accuride Corporation (NYSE:ACW), and Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc (NYSE:HY). This group of stocks are the members of the trucks & other vehicles industry and their market caps match WNC’s market cap.