Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (ANR)

Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR) investors should pay attention to a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late.

To the average investor, there are tons of indicators shareholders can use to analyze publicly traded companies. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can trounce the broader indices by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are many motivations for a corporate insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a gander at the key action regarding Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR).

Hedge fund activity in Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR)

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 22 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -24% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Michael Johnston’s Steelhead Partners had the biggest position in Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR), worth close to $78 million, comprising 6% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $38.9 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies with similar optimism include John Paulson’s Paulson & Co, Bruce J. Richards and Louis Hanover’s Marathon Asset Management and Matthew Halbower’s Pentwater Capital Management.

Judging by the fact that Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR) has witnessed declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there was a specific group of fund managers that decided to sell off their positions entirely heading into Q2. Interestingly, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management dropped the largest position of all the hedgies we track, worth an estimated $7.3 million in stock., and Daniel S. Och of OZ Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $7.2 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 7 funds heading into Q2.

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

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:ANR). These stocks are Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP), PVR Partners LP (NYSE:PVR), Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE:SWC), HudBay Minerals Inc Ord Shs (NYSE:HBM), and Walter Energy, Inc. (NYSE:WLT). All of these stocks are in the industrial metals & minerals industry and their market caps match ANR’s market cap.