Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Pike Electric Corporation (PIKE)

Pike Electric Corporation (NYSE:PIKE) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently.

Pike Electric Corporation (NYSE:PIKE)If you’d ask most stock holders, hedge funds are seen as worthless, old financial vehicles of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds trading at present, we at Insider Monkey look at the aristocrats of this group, around 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group controls the lion’s share of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by keeping an eye on their top investments, we have spotted a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see the details here).

Equally as important, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the world of equities. There are plenty of stimuli for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a glance at the latest action surrounding Pike Electric Corporation (NYSE:PIKE).

What does the smart money think about Pike Electric Corporation (NYSE:PIKE)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -7% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in Pike Electric Corporation (NYSE:PIKE), worth close to $11.3 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is McKinley Capital Management, managed by Robert B. Gillam, which held a $4.6 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Since Pike Electric Corporation (NYSE:PIKE) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that slashed their entire stakes at the end of the first quarter. At the top of the heap, Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management said goodbye to the biggest investment of all the hedgies we watch, worth an estimated $10.7 million in stock., and Mark Broach of Manatuck Hill Partners was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $0.5 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds at the end of the first quarter.

Insider trading activity in Pike Electric Corporation (NYSE:PIKE)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Pike Electric Corporation (NYSE:PIKE) has seen zero unique insiders buying, 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 Pike Electric Corporation (NYSE:PIKE). These stocks are Quanta Services Inc (NYSE:PWR), Emcor Group Inc (NYSE:EME), Integrated Electrical Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:IESC), Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX), and MYR Group Inc (NASDAQ:MYRG). This group of stocks are the members of the general contractors industry and their market caps are similar to PIKE’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Quanta Services Inc (NYSE:PWR) 35 0 15
Emcor Group Inc (NYSE:EME) 20 0 8
Integrated Electrical Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:IESC) 4 1 0
Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (NYSE:FIX) 7 0 5
MYR Group Inc (NASDAQ:MYRG) 16 0 5

With the returns demonstrated by our research, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Pike Electric Corporation (NYSE:PIKE) is an important part of this process.

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