Should You Buy Ryder System, Inc. (R)?

Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R) shareholders have witnessed an increase in enthusiasm from smart money of late.

Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R)

In the eyes of most traders, hedge funds are seen as worthless, old investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds with their doors open at the moment, we look at the aristocrats of this group, close to 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by watching their top picks, we have spotted a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually 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 (check out a sample of our picks).

Just as important, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are many reasons for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if investors know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a look at the latest action regarding Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R).

What does the smart money think about Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 24 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 50% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management had the most valuable position in Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R), worth close to $42.9 million, accounting for 2.2% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Dreman Value Management, managed by David Dreman, which held a $41.4 million position; 1.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.

Now, key money managers have jumped into Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R) headfirst. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, initiated the largest position in Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R). Renaissance Technologies had 12.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Steven Tananbaum’s GoldenTree Asset Management also initiated a $9.7 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new R investors: Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 10 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R). These stocks are GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT), AMERCO (NASDAQ:UHAL), Air Lease Corp (NYSE:AL), , and Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR). This group of stocks belong to the rental & leasing services industry and their market caps are closest to R’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT) 9 2 6
AMERCO (NASDAQ:UHAL) 13 0 1
Air Lease Corp (NYSE:AL) 12 1 1
Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) 33 0 9

With the results exhibited by our research, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R) is an important part of this process.

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