Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Jarden Corp (JAH)?

Jarden Corp (NYSE:JAH) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late.

If you’d ask most shareholders, hedge funds are viewed as slow, outdated investment tools of years past. While there are over 8000 funds trading at present, we look at the aristocrats of this group, close to 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by keeping an eye on their top stock picks, we have discovered a few investment strategies that have historically beaten the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have topped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. There are many reasons for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a look at the key action encompassing Jarden Corp (NYSE:JAH).

How are hedge funds trading Jarden Corp (NYSE:JAH)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 22 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -4% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the largest position in Jarden Corp (NYSE:JAH), worth close to $85.4 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, which held a $69.9 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers with similar optimism include Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management, Crispin Odey’s Odey Asset Management Group and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

Seeing as Jarden Corp (NYSE:JAH) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of fund managers who sold off their entire stakes in Q1. It’s worth mentioning that Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management dropped the largest position of the 450+ funds we monitor, comprising close to $164.2 million in stock.. David Dreman’s fund, Dreman Value Management, also dropped its stock, about $13.5 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds in Q1.

How are insiders trading Jarden Corp (NYSE:JAH)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time period, Jarden Corp (NYSE:JAH) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Jarden Corp (NYSE:JAH). These stocks are Lifetime Brands Inc (NASDAQ:LCUT), Libbey Inc. (NYSEAMEX:LBY), Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE), The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX), and Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL). This group of stocks belong to the housewares & accessories industry and their market caps are similar to JAH’s market cap.

With the results exhibited by Insider Monkey’s studies, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Jarden Corp (NYSE:JAH) is no exception.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds