Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (PSUN)?

Should Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSUN) investors track the following data?

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many methods shareholders can use to analyze publicly traded companies. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as useful, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to look at the financial markets. There are a variety of reasons for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to examine the recent info about Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSUN).

How have hedgies been trading Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSUN)?

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 63% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management had the largest position in Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSUN), worth close to $36 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, which held a $2.8 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Peter A. Wright’s P.A.W. CAPITAL PARTNERS and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the titans, certain bigger names have been driving this bullishness. Adage Capital Management, managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, initiated the largest position in Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSUN). Adage Capital Management had 36 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw also initiated a $2.8 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new PSUN investors: Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Peter A. Wright’s P.A.W. CAPITAL PARTNERS, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

What have insiders been doing with Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSUN)?

Insider buying made by high-level executives is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSUN) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSUN). These stocks are Destination XL Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXLG), Christopher & Banks Corporation (NYSE:CBK), Cherokee Inc. (NASDAQ:CHKE), Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRN), and Body Central Corp (NASDAQ:BODY). This group of stocks are the members of the apparel stores industry and their market caps are similar to PSUN’s market cap.