An update from the hedge fund universe, Tiger Consumer Management, managed by tiger cub Patrick McCormack just raised its position in Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO). In a 13G filing with the SEC, McCormack’s hedge fund revealed ownership of about 6.4 million shares of the company, which at the current price of company’s stock are worth more than $64.7 million. In comparison with the stake disclosed in the latest round of 13F filings, we can see that Tiger Consumer Management boosted its stake in Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO) by almost 2.9 million shares.
At the moment, there are tons of metrics shareholders can use to watch Mr. Market. A pair 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 best investment managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a superb amount (see just how much).
Equally as crucial, bullish insider trading activity is another way to look at the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of motivations for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, it’s important to study the recent info for Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO).
How are hedge funds trading Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO)?
At the end of the second quarter, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -25% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly.
Aside from Tiger Consumer Management, according to our 13F database, Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich’s Scopia Capital had the another valuable position in Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO), worth close to $68 million, comprising 1.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Ricky Sandler’s Eminence Capital, Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management and Craig C. Albert’s Sheffield Asset Management.
As Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO) has faced dropping sentiment from the smart money’s best and brightest, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few money managers who were dropping their entire stakes heading into Q2. It’s worth mentioning that Israel Englander’s Millennium Management cut the biggest investment of all the hedgies we monitor, totaling close to $9.3 million in stock, and David Costen Haley of HBK Investments was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $1 million worth. These moves are important to note, as total hedge fund interest fell by 5 funds heading into Q2.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO)?
Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is most useful when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO). These stocks are Stage Stores Inc (NYSE:SSI), Ann Inc (NYSE:ANN), Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ:JOSB), The Jones Group Inc. (NYSE:JNY), and Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE). This group of stocks are in the apparel stores industry and their market caps are closest to ARO’s market cap.
