positions at the end of the previous quarter.
To the average investor, there are a multitude of methods shareholders can use to analyze their holdings. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can beat the S&P 500 by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Just as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are a variety of motivations for a corporate insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a peek at the recent action surrounding Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH).
What have hedge funds been doing with Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH)?
At year’s end, a total of 33 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 3% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Scout Capital Management, managed by James Crichton and Adam Weiss, holds the biggest position in Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH). Scout Capital Management has a $291 million position in the stock, comprising 5% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Pennant Capital Management, managed by Alan Fournier, which held a $176 million position; the fund has 3.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies with similar optimism include John Griffin’s Blue Ridge Capital, Thomas Steyer’s Farallon Capital and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Blue Ridge Capital, managed by John Griffin, assembled the largest position in Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH). Blue Ridge Capital had 112 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Thomas Steyer’s Farallon Capital also made a $112 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new SBH positions are Michael A. Price and Amos Meron’s Empyrean Capital Partners, Doug Silverman’s Senator Investment Group, and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns exhibited by our studies, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH) is an important part of this process.
Click here to learn more about Insider Monkey’s Hedge Fund Newsletter
Insider Monkey’s small-cap strategy returned 29.2% between September 2012 and February 2013 versus 8.7% for the S&P 500 index. Try it now by clicking the link above.
