Materion Corp (NYSE:MTRN) has experienced a decrease in hedge fund sentiment recently.
According to most shareholders, hedge funds are seen as underperforming, outdated investment tools of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open today, we hone in on the moguls of this group, about 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group has its hands on the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by tracking their best stock picks, we have brought to light a few investment strategies that have historically beaten the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have beaten the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).
With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a gander at the key action regarding Materion Corp (NYSE:MTRN).
How are hedge funds trading Materion Corp (NYSE:MTRN)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.
According to our comprehensive database, GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, holds the most valuable position in Materion Corp (NYSE:MTRN). GAMCO Investors has a $36 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Tontine Asset Management, managed by Jeffrey Gendell, which held a $4.8 million position; 0.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk’s GRT Capital Partners.
Seeing as Materion Corp (NYSE:MTRN) has witnessed falling interest from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few fund managers who sold off their positions entirely heading into Q2. At the top of the heap, Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors dumped the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, valued at an estimated $0.7 million in stock.. Charles Davidson’s fund, Wexford Capital, also sold off its stock, about $0.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Materion Corp (NYSE:MTRN)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Materion Corp (NYSE:MTRN) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns shown by the aforementioned tactics, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Materion Corp (NYSE:MTRN) applies perfectly to this mantra.
