Brink’s Co (BCO): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?: Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc (KTOS), American Science & Engineering, Inc. (ASEI)

Brink’s Co (NYSE:BCO) has seen a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late.

At the moment, there are plenty of methods market participants can use to monitor the equity markets. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can beat the S&P 500 by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of incentives for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action surrounding Brink’s Co (NYSE:BCO).

How have hedgies been trading Brink’s Co (NYSE:BCO)?

At year’s end, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -9% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly.

Of the funds we track, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors had the biggest position in Brink’s Co (NYSE:BCO), worth close to $65 million, accounting for 0.5% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is William von Mueffling of Cantillon Capital Management, with a $61 million position; the fund has 2.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management and John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments.

Seeing as Brink’s Co (NYSE:BCO) has witnessed bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few funds who sold off their entire stakes last quarter. At the top of the heap, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management sold off the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, totaling close to $1 million in stock.. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s fund, Two Sigma Advisors, also dropped its stock, about $1 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds last quarter.

How are insiders trading Brink’s Co (NYSE:BCO)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time frame, Brink’s Co (NYSE:BCO) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Brink’s Co (NYSE:BCO). These stocks are Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc (NASDAQ:KTOS), American Science & Engineering, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASEI), Checkpoint Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CKP), The Geo Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO), and Ascent Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASCMA). This group of stocks are the members of the security & protection services industry and their market caps resemble BCO’s market cap.

With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Brink’s Co (NYSE:BCO) is an important part of this process.

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