Boston Beer Co Inc (NYSE:SAM) was in 6 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. SAM shareholders have witnessed a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 8 hedge funds in our database with SAM positions at the end of the previous quarter.
According to most traders, hedge funds are assumed to be worthless, old investment tools of the past. While there are over 8000 funds trading today, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the upper echelon of this club, close to 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group controls most of the smart money’s total asset base, and by keeping an eye on their top picks, we have discovered a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year 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 trumped the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (check out a sample of our picks).
Just as key, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to break down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of stimuli for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if you know where to look (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a peek at the key action surrounding Boston Beer Co Inc (NYSE:SAM).
How have hedgies been trading Boston Beer Co Inc (NYSE:SAM)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -25% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.
According to our comprehensive database, Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, holds the largest position in Boston Beer Co Inc (NYSE:SAM). Fisher Asset Management has a $50.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Mario Gabelli of GAMCO Investors, with a $15.7 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Due to the fact that Boston Beer Co Inc (NYSE:SAM) has experienced falling interest from the smart money, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that decided to sell off their entire stakes last quarter. Intriguingly, Roberto Mignone’s Bridger Management sold off the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, worth about $10.2 million in stock., and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell of Arrowstreet Capital was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $1.8 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds last quarter.
What have insiders been doing with Boston Beer Co Inc (NYSE:SAM)?
Insider buying is best served when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, Boston Beer Co Inc (NYSE:SAM) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 11 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Boston Beer Co Inc (NYSE:SAM). These stocks are China New Borun Corp (NYSE:BORN), Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP), Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU), and Vina Concha y Toro S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:VCO). This group of stocks are the members of the beverages – brewers industry and their market caps are closest to SAM’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| China New Borun Corp (NYSE:BORN) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) | 22 | 0 | 6 |
| Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:CCU) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Vina Concha y Toro S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:VCO) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
With the results exhibited by Insider Monkey’s research, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Boston Beer Co Inc (NYSE:SAM) is no exception.
