Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE)? – TTM Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTMI), Celestica Inc. (USA) (NYSE:CLS)

Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. BHE investors should pay attention to an increase in enthusiasm from smart money of late. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with BHE holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

At the moment, there are a multitude of gauges market participants can use to watch stocks. A couple of the most useful 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 broader indices by a significant margin (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are many stimuli for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action encompassing Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE).

What have hedge funds been doing with Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 8% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.

Of the funds we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the most valuable position in Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE). Royce & Associates has a $82 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Lakewood Capital Management, managed by Anthony Bozza, which held a $9 million position; 0% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Gotham Asset Management, managed by Joel Greenblatt, initiated the most valuable position in Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE). Gotham Asset Management had 0 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Mike Vranos’s Ellington also made a $0 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new BHE position is Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital.

How have insiders been trading Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE). These stocks are Park Electrochemical Corp. (NYSE:PKE), TTM Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTMI), Celestica Inc. (USA) (NYSE:CLS), Raven Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAVN), and Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS). All of these stocks are in the printed circuit boards industry and their market caps match BHE’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) is an important part of this process.