Hedge Funds Are Betting On Berry Plastics Group Inc (BERY)

Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE:BERY) has seen an increase in enthusiasm from smart money recently.

If you’d ask most market participants, hedge funds are perceived as unimportant, old investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at the moment, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the bigwigs of this group, around 450 funds. It is estimated that this group controls the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by keeping an eye on their highest performing picks, we have spotted a number of investment strategies that have historically outperformed the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum 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 beaten the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (see all of our picks from August).

Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of motivations for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a peek at the latest action surrounding Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE:BERY).

How are hedge funds trading Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE:BERY)?

When looking at the hedgies we track, Select Equity Group, managed by Robert Joseph Caruso, holds the most valuable position in Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE:BERY). Select Equity Group has a $66.4 million position in the stock, comprising 1% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Appaloosa Management LP, managed by David Tepper, which held a $21.3 million position; 0.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Joshua Friedman and Mitchell Julis’s Canyon Capital Advisors, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management.

As aggregate interest increased, key money managers have been driving this bullishness. Select Equity Group, managed by Robert Joseph Caruso, initiated the most outsized position in Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE:BERY). Select Equity Group had 66.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management LP also initiated a $21.3 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new BERY positions are Joshua Friedman and Mitchell Julis’s Canyon Capital Advisors, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE:BERY)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE:BERY) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero 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 Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE:BERY). These stocks are Tredegar Corporation (NYSE:TG), Carlisle Companies, Inc. (NYSE:CSL), Titan International Inc (NYSE:TWI), The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ:GT), and Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE:CTB). This group of stocks are the members of the rubber & plastics industry and their market caps are closest to BERY’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE:BERY) is an important part of this process.

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